Sumitomo : Commencement of consideration of integration of domestic steel pipe businesses of Sumitomo Corporation Group and Metal One Group

Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Kuniharu Nakamura) and Metal One Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Shuichi Iwata) agreed on July 10 to begin considering the integration of the domestic steel pipe businesses of the two companies and their subsidiaries (hereinafter, 'the Integration'), and the two companies will be undertaking consideration of this Integration in the spirit of equal partnership.

The business environment surrounding the domestic steel pipe market is changing at an accelerating rate, and the importance of proactive action for this environment change is growing. Under these circumstances, Sumitomo Corporation and Metal One Corporation have now determined that, through the Integration, marshalling the management resources cultivated thus far by the two companies and utilizing their respective Group strengths to pursue sustained growth very likely offers the best option for all stakeholders including employees, and an agreement was reached to begin considering the Integration. From now on, the two companies will move forward in considering the Integration so that they can fulfill a function in meeting the needs of all market participants by making the most effective use of the management resources covered by the Integration, and developing the function and expertise.
Seeking to ensure that the Integration will be acceptable to the relevant authorities both inside and outside Japan, the two companies will set up an Integration Exploratory Committee and discuss the optimal structures for the Integration, the name, head office location and other basic matters of the new integrated company, the integration ratio and other conditions of the Integration, and other matters pertinent to the Integration, in order to achieve the aims set forth in the preceding paragraph.