Fuji to divest Lady Drug Store stake for 19.5 bn yen

Fuji Co. (TSE:8278) announced its resolution to transfer all shares of Lady Drug Store Co., Ltd., an equity-method affiliate with 49% voting rights, through a share buyback by Lady and a share sale to Tsuruha Holdings Inc. The total transfer price is approximately 19.5 billion yen, with 19.005 billion yen from the Lady buyback and 495 million yen from the Tsuruha sale. The board of directors passed the resolution on November 20, 2025, with the share transfer scheduled for December 22, 2025. Post-transfer, Fuji will no longer hold shares in Lady.

This strategic divestiture is expected to result in a gain on sales of investment securities, recorded as extraordinary income in Fuji's consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending February 2026. Lady Drug Store, established July 22, 1968, reported net assets of 21.751 billion yen and total assets of 43.518 billion yen as of February 28, 2025. Tsuruha Holdings, the acquirer, has total assets of 634.552 billion yen as of August 15, 2025.

Fuji confirmed that fairness-ensuring measures were implemented, including a special committee review, to protect minority shareholders, concluding that the share transfer is not disadvantageous to them. The proceeds will be strategically utilized to support Fuji’s medium-term management plan and strengthen its financial foundation.