Sumitomo Chem. eyes M&A to boost overseas

March 9, 2017

TOKYO- Sumitomo Chemical Co. President Masakazu Tokura has expressed willingness to quickly expand overseas sales by acquiring local firms.

“As establishing sales networks abroad on its own is time-consuming, we intend to pay to save time,” Tokura said in an interview.

In its medium-term management plan through fiscal 2018, Sumitomo Chemical set aside 300 billion yen for mergers and acquisitions, and has already spent 200 billion yen mainly to acquire an Indian agrochemical maker.

“With the remaining funds, I want to build sales channels for our own products in South America, such as Brazil and Argentine, and Europe,” Tokura said.

He also noted that Sumitomo Chemical will try to make its lithium-ion battery material operation profitable in some five years.

The company has been developing materials for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other products jointly with Tanaka Chemical Corp., which became its subsidiary last month. Jiji Press