Our History

ORIX Corporation was established on April 17, 1964 in Osaka, Japan as Orient Leasing Co., Ltd. by three trading companies and five banks that included Nichimen, Nissho and Iwai (presently Sojitz Corporation), the Sanwa Bank (presently Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.), Toyo Trust & Banking (presently Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Bank Corporation), the Industrial Bank of Japan and Nippon Kangyo Bank (presently Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Mizuho Holdings, Inc.), and the Bank of Kobe (presently Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation). The company's name was changed to ORIX Corporation in 1989. ORIX began operations with a 13-member staff, including current Chairman and CEO Yoshihiko Miyauchi, who at the time had just recently learned the leasing business through a cooperative arrangement with U.S. Leasing International Inc. in the United States.

ORIX's initial expansion occurred during the period of sustained economic growth in Japan during the 1960s and lasted through to the early 1970s. During this time, strong capital spending by the corporate sector fueled demand for equipment, and led to the first wave of newly established leasing companies in Japan. Under the leadership of the late Tsuneo Inui, (President from 1967 to 1980), ORIX capitalized on the growing demand in this period by expanding its portfolio of leasing assets. In addition, the marketing strategy shifted from a focus on using the established networks of the trading companies and other initial shareholders, to one that concentrated on independent marketing as the number of branches expanded. In April 1970, six years after ORIX was founded, its shares were listed on the second section of the Osaka Securities Exchange, which at the time was the fastest listing of any company in Japan. In February 1973, ORIX shares were listed on the first sections of the Tokyo and Nagoya Stock Exchanges and the Osaka Securities Exchange.

The 1970s saw the gradual maturing of the Japanese leasing industry and the Japanese economy was adversely affected by the two oil shocks of 1973 and 1979, resulting in reduced growth in capital spending and increased volatility in foreign exchange rates.

Despite these difficulties, domestically ORIX continued to grow rapidly by expanding and diversifying its range of products and services to include loan, computer operating leasing and ship leasing.

ORIX set up a number of specialized leasing companies to tap new market potential starting with the establishment of ORIX Alpha Corporation in 1972, which concentrated on leasing office furnishings (now completely integrated within ORIX Corporation), and including ORIX Auto Leasing Corporation (presently ORIX Auto Corporation) and ORIX Rentec Corporation, Japan's first electric measuring equipment rental company, in 1976. With the establishment of the credit company Family Consumer Credit Corporation (Now ORIX Credit Corporation, presently concentrating on card loans) in 1979, ORIX began to move into the retail market by offering financing services to individuals.

It was also during this time that ORIX began overseas expansion, commencing with the establishment of its first overseas office in Hong Kong in 1971, followed by Singapore (1972), Malaysia (1973), Indonesia (1975), South Korea (1975), the Philippines (1977) and Thailand (1978).

Yoshihiko Miyauchi (currently ORIX's Representative Executive Officer, Chairman and Group CEO) became President in 1980 after Tsuneo Inui. Keeping with the times, ORIX continued to expand its range of products and services, and placed increased emphasis on strengthening synergies among Group companies by emphasizing knowledge sharing and cooperation to make optimal use of corporate resources. This included a focus on cross selling a variety of products and services to clients, a fundamental ORIX strategy to this day.

In 1980 ORIX also began its mortgage business and established operations for the quick leasing of general-purpose equipment (now the OQL Sales Department). Orient Capital (now ORIX Capital), ORIX's venture capital business, was established in 1983, and the Japanese company Budget Rent-a-Car (now ORIX Auto Corporation) was established in 1985. Operations were further expanded in 1985 with aircraft leasing, and in 1986 with the rental of dormitory accommodation for single individuals, which would become the foundation of ORIX's real estate business.

ORIX also initiated a management strategy of proactive mergers and acquisitions to expand operations, and in 1986 made its initial investment in Akane Securities K.K. (which became ORIX Securities Corporation in 1985 and is now MONEX,INC. since 2010 ) and Osaka Ichioka Corporation (now ORIX Interior Corporation), which is involved in real estate and leisure facility management, in order to further expand its array of financial products and services.

In 1988, ORIX acquired the Hankyu Braves, one of 12 professional baseball teams in Japan, now called the ORIX Buffaloes, which helps to raise name recognition and promote ORIX's corporate image. In 1989, ORIX introduced a corporate identity program and changed its name to ORIX Corporation from Orient Leasing Co., Ltd. to reflect its increasingly international profile and diversification into financial services other than leasing.

ORIX Real Estate Corporation was established in 1999 to concentrate on condominium development that was first begun in 1993 as well as develop office buildings in pursuit of improved real estate expertise.
ORIX established ORIX Eco Services Corporation in 1998, expanding into the environmental business.
Also in 1998, ORIX listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker Symbol: IX) and, through registration with the SEC, has worked to further strengthen its corporate governance regulations.

In the early years of the new millennium, several of ORIX's bi-lateral expansions came to fruition. Domestic and overseas expansion, expansion of corporate and retails businesses, and the expansion of asset and fee businesses have resulted in a solid revenue base.

Specifically, the dramatic growth of the investment banking business was a key performance driver for ORIX's solid performance. ORIX Asset Management and Loan Services Corporation, with its accumulated servicing know-how, has expanded its servicing amount and real estate non-recourse loans increased in line with the popularization of securitization. Additionally, ORIX participated in large-scale corporate rehabilitation, investing in Aozora Bank in 2000 and Daikyo Corporation in 2005. In 2003, ORIX established ORIX M&A Solutions, and purchased the U.S. investment bank Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin in 2006.

ORIX also created an organizational framework that is able to provide full-scale services toward the achievement of a low-carbon society with the establishment of the Environment and Eco Services department and ORIX Environmental Resources Corporation.

ORIX also actively expanded the real estate operation business. ORIX operates a wide variety of facilities including golf courses, hotels, Japanese inns, aquariums and senior residences.

ORIX continued its overseas expansion by re-entering China. In 2004, ORIX established a rental company in Tianjin, and in 2005 established a leasing company in Shanghai. In 2009, ORIX established its Chinese Headquarters in Dalian. ORIX has also set up local subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan.

These measures each contributed to achievement of record profit levels for the four consecutive years from 2004 to 2007. During the fiscal year ended March 2007, ORIX recorded a net income of 196.5 billion yen and had grown to 16,662 employees. Thanks to these achievements, ORIX has come to be recognized as a unique company pursuing diversified businesses.

In 2007, the financial crisis stemming from the sub-prime loan problem threw the capital market in dysfunction and triggered a rapid credit crunch after the Lehman Shock in September 2008. ORIX responded to the unprecedented financial crisis by concentrating its efforts on “Strengthening the Corporate Structure” and “Operational Realignment,” and recorded a net income of 21.9 billion yen in March 2009, whilst leading domestic and overseas financial institutions posted losses. Since then, ORIX has been recovering steadily. The only loss ORIX has recorded was the year of its establishment, and ORIX has been continuously recording yearly profits even among a volatile environment including oil shocks, the collapse of the bubble economy and the Lehman Shock.

Having overcome the financial crisis, ORIX aims for further growth with the dual strategy of accelerating the pace of “Finance + Services” and “Embracing Growth in Emerging Markets such as Asia.”