TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Taiyo Pacific Partners announced today that it has accumulated in excess of 5% in HITACHI MAXELL, LTD. (6810) to become the 2nd largest shareholder. Hitachi Maxell (the “Company” or “Maxell”) is a global leading provider of micro batteries, camera lens and LED headlamp lens for cars. Taiyo Pacific Partners is a pioneer of friendly engagement investing in Japan and has been proactively working with senior management at its portfolio companies to enhance shareholder value for over 13 years.
Brian K. Heywood, Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner of Taiyo Pacific Partners, said, “The demise of cassette tapes and CD-ROMs means you probably haven’t heard the name Hitachi Maxell in a while but you might still remember the iconic 1980s advertisement “Blown Away Guy” that depicted the superior quality of their audio tapes. In fact, Hitachi Maxell may be the perfect representative of how investors often view Japan: ‘you used to make cool stuff but what do you do now?’ At Taiyo, we spend a lot of time looking under the hood of potential investments trying to find overlooked companies like Hitachi Maxell that have technology coded in their DNA and that are likely to surprise everyone on the upside. Over the next several years, we fully expect that President Senzai will lead a revamped company with the development of new and exciting products that only Hitachi Maxell can create. We are confident our investors will be well rewarded for our stake in this new holding.”
Michael A. King, Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of Taiyo Pacific Partners, said, “Hitachi Maxell has had many successes during its 56-year history, including being the first company to develop alkaline batteries and audio tapes in Japan. Currently, auto-related products such as TPMS battery (micro battery), camera lens unit and LED headlamp lens are the key drivers for growth and profit. We expect the Company to further increase overall profitability and ROE, but the market has not yet appreciated the full potential of Maxell.”
President Yoshihiro Senzai commented, “Hitachi Maxell aims to achieve its vision of ‘Supporting a ‘Smart Life’ and providing ‘Relaxation’ and ‘Enrichment’’. We want to create competitive advantage and achieve long-term growth by focusing on ‘Analogue-Core Technology’, ‘Manufacturing Know-How (‘Monozukuri-ryoku’)’ and ‘Globalization’. We believe we can create value for our customers by developing new products and services that drive growth in our ‘Automotive,’ ‘Home Life & Infrastructure,’ and ‘Health & Beauty Care’ areas. We are pleased to have a long-term investor like Taiyo that deeply understands and supports our core strength in product development as well as our management visions. We very much look forward to our long-term partnership. In this fast-changing world, we are convinced that we can satisfy our customer needs in the future. We will focus on increasing corporate value by maintaining a good relationship with all of our stakeholders.”
Taiyo Pacific Partners is one of the largest engagement funds in Japan investing in publicly-listed Japanese small- and mid-cap companies. The firm has a diverse and synergistic investment team of 20 bi-lingual professionals with over 320 combined years of Asia-related work experience. Since its founding in 2003, Taiyo Pacific Partners has attracted assets from some of the largest and most widely known institutions in the world including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and leading endowments in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.