Japan Post says may take stake in retailer Lawson
State-owned Japan Post Holdings Co Ltd said on Tuesday it may buy a stake in Lawson Inc., Japan’s third-largest convenience store chain, in the latest move to combine postal and retailing.
The two companies said that within three years there would be 800 stores selling Lawson products and postal services.
“Until Japan Post goes public, it won’t be possible for both companies to hold each other’s shares at the same time. But so long as it is fine for just one side to take stake for a while, we can acquire Lawson shares,” said Yoshifumi Nishikawa, the president of Japan Post.
He added that the company had yet to determine how many Lawson shares it would buy.
While some convenience store chains, including Yamazaki Daily Store, owned by Yamazaki Baking Co Ltd, have teamed up with Japan Post to deliver packages, Lawson has been the most aggressive to partner up with the state-run postal firm.
Lawson has placed mailboxes in all its stores and operates five branches inside post offices. The two companies are cooperating to deliver mail in Kochi prefecture in western Japan.
Japan Post is the holding firm of four businesses — mail delivery, banking, life insurance and counter services — which split into four companies in October.
The banking and insurance businesses are set to be privatised sometime by 2017, but the government does not plan to privatise the mail delivery and counter service operations.
State-owned Japan Post Holdings Co Ltd said on Tuesday it may buy a stake in Lawson Inc., Japan’s third-largest convenience store chain, in the latest move to combine postal and retailing.
The two companies said that within three years there would be 800 stores selling Lawson products and postal services.
“Until Japan Post goes public, it won’t be possible for both companies to hold each other’s shares at the same time. But so long as it is fine for just one side to take stake for a while, we can acquire Lawson shares,” said Yoshifumi Nishikawa, the president of Japan Post.
He added that the company had yet to determine how many Lawson shares it would buy.
Lawson, which trails industry leader Seven-Eleven Japan, a unit of Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd and second-ranked FamilyMart Co Ltd, said it may in future take a stake in Japan Post, which the Japanese government plans to partly privatise over the next few years.
While some convenience store chains, including Yamazaki Daily Store, owned by Yamazaki Baking Co Ltd, have teamed up with Japan Post to deliver packages, Lawson has been the most aggressive to partner up with the state-run postal firm.
Lawson has placed mailboxes in all its stores and operates five branches inside post offices. The two companies are cooperating to deliver mail in Kochi prefecture in western Japan.
Japan Post is the holding firm of four businesses — mail delivery, banking, life insurance and counter services — which split into four companies in October.
The banking and insurance businesses are set to be privatised sometime by 2017, but the government does not plan to privatise the mail delivery and counter service operations.
