Toyobo Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) have announced an agreement to establish a new joint venture company that will specialize in the planning, development, manufacturing and sales of functional materials. Toyoba will own 51% stake in the JV company which is slated to commence operations in January 2023.

 

Business environments have been changing quite dramatically in recent years, as evidenced by global moves to decarbonize and expedite the development of new technologies. These changes are driving up demand for functional materials and resulting in a significant restructuring of the related industries, and both Toyobo and MC are committed to capturing opportunities that may arise. Over the last two years, we have been pursing strategic, cross-industry collaborations to ensure the sustainable growth and development of our operations, and our agreement signed today, on 24th March 2022, represents our latest venture together. Toyobo and MC share similar corporate values. We are both dedicated to addressing challenges faced by modern communities and helping to realize a sustainable society, and we are pleased that working together in functional materials will afford us another opportunity to do so.

 

Our new joint venture company shall inherit Toyobo’s functional materials business, and by combining our companies’ respective strengths, it shall endeavor to achieve two aims. The first of those aims is to grow our presence in global markets, and the second is to provide customers with solutions that meet the evolving needs of the industry, which are growing increasingly diverse and sophisticated by the day. Together, we are confident that we can achieve both of these aims, as MC’s broad industry know-how and network promises to be the perfect complement to Toyobo’s technological expertise.

 

By combining Toyobo’s business foundations with MC’s management expertise and functions, our new joint venture company shall strive to offer high value-added solutions to its customers. Immediately following its establishment, work shall commence to lay down a firm-yet-flexible management foundation that is capable of adapting swiftly to the dynamically changing business environment.   

 

Another of our objectives in establishing this new company is to leverage MC’s network to facilitate the global expansion of Toyobo’s materials and technologies. Furthermore, by marrying work to meet that objective with efforts dedicated to decarbonization and the achievement of the UN’s sustainable development goals, our new company shall pave the way forward for future collaborations between Toyobo and MC. We look forward to facilitating our construction of new business models that extend beyond functional materials, discussions on global alliances, and other ways to ensure the sustainable growth and development of our operations.