Announcement of the Transfer of Showa Denko Materials’ Food Wrap Film Business

May 12, 2021

Showa Denko Materials Co., Ltd.

Showa Denko Materials Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Hisashi Maruyama; hereinafter “Showa Denko Materials”) announces the conclusion of a contract to transfer its food wrap film business^※1(hereinafter “the wrap film business”) to Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd. (President: Yoshiaki Ono; hereinafter “Shin-Etsu Polymer”), effective May 12, 2021. Showa Denko Materials plans to have KitcheNista Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “KitcheNista”), a company to be established through an incorporation-type split (hereinafter “the Split”), take over the wrap film business on August 2, 2021, and to transfer all shares in KitcheNista to Shin-Etsu Polymer on the same date.

Showa Denko Materials launched the wrap film business in 1973 and began selling small-winding food wrap films in 1980. Showa Denko Materials’ food wrap film “Kitchenista Wrap” is known for its easy use with excellent stretchiness and stickiness, and we offer a unique product lineup, such as anti-viral and anti-bacterial types that keep wraps hygienic and an anti-bacterial blue type that makes it easier to detect wrap film fragments mixed with food. These features are well-received by professional chefs, and our commercial-use, small-winding wrap films boast the largest domestic market share.^※2

Showa Denko Materials became a consolidated subsidiary of Showa Denko K.K. in April 2020, and the two companies are scheduled to integrate in 2023. We are now in the process of optimally allocating our management resources and reorganizing our business portfolio to achieve sustainable growth in the future while working to create innovations by combining the technologies of both companies. During this process we carefully considered various options for our wrap film business and eventually concluded that the surest path to expand the business was its transfer to Shin-Etsu Polymer, which operates a similar food wrap film business using polyvinyl chloride resin films as the main materials.

The impact of the Split and wrap film business transfer on Showa Denko Materials’ performance is expected to be minor.

 

• ※1 The business includes other kitchen items.
• ※2 Source: Fuji Chimera Research Institute, "The Current Situation and Future Prospects of Packaging Materials in 2019 (2019 estimate)."

 

1. Outline of the parties to the company split (incorporation-type split) (as of May 12, 2021)

2. Execution date of the company split (incorporation-type split) and the share transfer

August 2, 2021 (planned)

3. Outline of the purchaser of the shares (as of March 31, 2021)

• To Japanese