ORIX Invests in Marine Vessel Trading Business of Sojitz Corporation

TOKYO, Japan – March 19, 2025 – ORIX Corporation (“ORIX”) announced that it has signed an agreement with Sojitz Corporation (“Sojitz”) for the transfer of shares of Sojitz Senpaku Corporation (“Sojitz Senpaku”), which was established through a corporate split^*1 of Sojitz’s marine vessel trading business.
ORIX will invest in Sojitz Senpaku along with Sojitz and SHOEI KISEN KAISHA, LTD. ORIX will acquire 70% of Sojitz Senpaku’s shares, and jointly manage its business with the existing shareholder Sojitz. At the same time, Sojitz Senpaku is scheduled to change^*2 its name to Somec Corporation.

Sojitz Group has been in the ship business for more than 70 years and currently engages in a wide range of marine vessel trading businesses, including brokerage of ship chartering and brokerage of purchase and sale of new and secondhand vessels. Its strengths are its international business networks in five locations—Tokyo, Imabari, London, Athens, and Shanghai—and human resources with high levels of expertise.

Through this investment, ORIX aims to make a full-scale entry into ship brokerage, and at the same time, create new business opportunities including securing investment projects under the themes of decarbonization and digital transformation in the maritime industry by using Sojitz Senpaku’s broad customer base. Sojitz Senpaku will use ORIX Group’s domestic and overseas sales and marketing network, business expertise, and solid financial foundation as well as further collaboration with maritime shipping-related companies—including ship builders and ship owners—to grow its ship brokerage business and expand into business fields beyond its existing business scope.

ORIX has more than 50 years’ experience in shipping, beginning in Japan in the late 1960s with a secondhand ship leasing business and since then building up expertise in ship investment (owning and operations); ship purchases, sales, and brokerage; and international ship financing. Furthermore, ORIX is expanding its ship owning and management businesses with the acquisition of Santoku Senpaku’s shares^*3 in February 2024.
ORIX will continue to draw on its accumulated experience and expertise to seek further growth of its ship business in the maritime industry, which serves an important role as a social infrastructure.

*1 Notice Regarding Corporate Split of Marine Vessel Trading Business (Simple Absorption-type Split) Sojitz Corporation (January 23, 2025)[177KB]
*2 After undertaking the prescribed procedures
*3 ORIX Signs Share Transfer Agreement for Santoku Senpaku (February 15, 2024)

■Overview of Sojitz

■Overview of SHOEI KISEN

■Overview of Sojitz Senpaku

Contact Information:
Investor Relations and Sustainability Department
ORIX Corporation
Tel: +81-3-3435-3121

About ORIX Group:
ORIX Group (ORIX Corporation TSE: 8591; NYSE: IX) was established in 1964 and has grown from its roots in leasing in Japan to become a global, diverse, and unique corporate group. Today, it is active around the world in financing and investment, life insurance, banking, asset management, real estate, concession, environment and energy, automobile-related services, industrial/ICT equipment, ships and aircraft. Since expanding outside of Japan in 1971, ORIX Group has grown its business globally and now operates in around 30 countries and regions across the world with approximately 34,000 people. ORIX Group unites globally around its Purpose: “Finding Paths. Making Impact.” combining diverse expertise and innovative thinking to help our world develop in a sustainable way.
For more details, please visit our website: https://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/
(As of September 30, 2024)

Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements:
These documents may contain forward-looking statements about expected future events and financial results that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements are based on our current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results that differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, those described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and under “(4) Risk Factors” of the “1. Summary of Consolidated Financial Results” of the “Consolidated Financial Results April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024” furnished on Form 6-K.