GREE to turn "Kawaii Pet MEGU" Developer MARS into Wholly-Owned Subsidiary- Enhancement to Smartphone Application Development Capability -
TOKYO, Japan - November 2, 2011 - GREE today announced that it has resolved to make MARS a wholly-owned subsidiary.
1. Reason for acquisition
Currently focusing on the development and operation of social games in order to grow its social networking service (SNS) “GREE” into a global platform, GREE will make MARS into a wholly-owned subsidiary in order to strengthen its development capability for smartphone apps and enhance its line-up of attractive social games.
MARS possesses abundant development experience in smartphone apps through its subsidiary, FEYNMAN, and operates a popular app, “Kawaii Pet MEGU (Breeding game MEGU),” which recently recorded a cumulative number 807,000 downloads (as of October 28, 2011).
By turning MARS and FEYNMAN into wholly-owned subsidiaries, GREE expects to reinforce its development capability for smartphone apps and to create synergy among the three companies by sharing human resources and operational know-how. Moreover, GREE forecasts higher profitability by using GREE's know-how in “Kawaii Pet MEGU (Breeding game MEGU).”
GREE continues to provide high quality content to as many users as possible and aims to provide the best community services to be used all over the world.
Screenshots of “Kawaii Pet MEGU (Breeding game MEGU)”
2. Investment scheme
GREE will initially acquire 5,110 common shares of MARS (voting right ratio: 70.0%) from existing shareholders. GREE will then purchase the remaining 2,190 common shares of MARS (voting right ratio: 30.0%), from existing shareholders in several stages, resulting in GREE acquiring 100% of all shares of MARS.
3. Outline of MARS
| Company name | MARS, ltd. |
|---|---|
| Representative | Kenichi Yao |
| Address | Shibuya-ku, Tokyo |
| Establishment | January 1996 |
| Number of employees | 28 |
| Major shareholder | Kenichi Yao (Ownership ratio: 76.3%) |
| Description of main business | Contract development of smartphone applications and websites |
| Capital | 10 million yen (As of the end of September 2011) |
| Relationship between listed companies and MARS | Capital relationship:No capital relationship to be noted. Personal relationship:No personal relationship to be noted. Business relationship:No business relationship to be noted. |
Reference
| Company name | FEYNMAN Co., Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Representative | Kenichi Yao |
| Address | Shibuya-ku, Tokyo |
| Establishment | July 2008 |
| Number of employees | 5 |
| Major shareholder | MARS, ltd. (Ownership ratio 100.0%) |
| Description of main business | Development of smartphone applications |
| Capital | 5 million yen (As of the end of September 2011) |
| Relationship between listed companies and FEYNMAN | Capital relationship:No capital relationship to be noted. Personal relationship:No personal relationship to be noted. Business relationship:No business relationship to be noted. |
4. Schedule
Acquisition of shares: November 2011 (tentative)
The effects of this announcement on our performance are under review and we will immediately disclose any major effects if identified.
Contact Information
GREE, Inc. PR
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
E-mail: pr@gree.co.jp
URL: https://corp.gree.net/jp/en/
Twitter: @GREE_pr_jp
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