Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President & CEO: Kenichi Hori) has agreed to accept a third-party allocation of new quotas issued by TBP Importação e Comércio de Cosméticos LTDA. ("TBP"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kao Corporation ("Kao") in Brazil. The parties have concluded a Quota Subscription Agreement. Mitsui and Kao aim to jointly expand their business in Brazil, which is the world's fourth biggest beauty and personal care market. TBP has its headquarters in São Paulo, and after the allotment, Kao Corporation will own a 70% quota in TBP, while Mitsui will hold a 30% quota. The investment will be completed after obtaining necessary approvals by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2023.
Already worth approximately ¥3 trillion, the Brazil's beauty and personal care products market is expected to maintain a 7.7% yearly growth rate*1, reflecting the rise in the middle-income population and the spread of new consumer behavior led by Generation Z. In 2017, Mitsui formed a business tie-up with Kao covering the sales and marketing of Kao's Bioré brand skincare products in Brazil. Having carried out market surveys and trial marketing, the two companies have concluded that Bioré products has substantial acceptance by the consumers in Brazil and will transition to full-scale collaborative marketing. The two companies will consider to start manufacturing of these products in Brazil.
Mitsui and Kao are both focusing on emerging markets and plan to explore opportunities for further collaboration in other priority areas in addition to beauty and personal care products.
*1 Source: Euromonitor International
Company Profile
| Company Name | Kao Corporation |
|---|---|
| Address | 1-14-10 Nihonbashi Kayabacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan |
| Incorporated | May 21, 1940 (founded June 19, 1887) |
| Representative | Yoshihiro Hasebe, Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer |
| Employees | 35,411 (In Kao Group consolidated companies. As of December 31, 2022) |
| Business overview | Consumer products businesses, including Hygiene & Living Care, Health & Beauty Care, Life Care and Cosmetics, and the Chemical business to meet the needs of industry. |
| Website URL |
Mitsui’s Materiality
“Build brighter futures, everywhere” as our corporate mission, and to gain the trust and expectations of our stakeholders to realize a better tomorrow for earth and for people around the world, we have identified five material issues (“Materiality”) for Mitsui’s sustainable growth. We anticipate this particular project/ business to contribute especially to the realization of “Enhance quality of life”
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Secure sustainable supply of essential products
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Enhance quality of life
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Create an eco-friendly society
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Develop talent leading to value creation
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Build an organization with integrity