Mizuno To Buy Senoh

OSAKA (Nikkei) -- Mizuno Corporation announced Thursday that it will acquire sporting equipment manufacturer Senoh Corp. for 7.98 billion yen next Friday from the government-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan.

By purchasing all shares and making the firm a wholly owned subsidiary, Mizuno seeks to bolster its indoor equipment business and reap synergies with its sports facilities management operations.

Senoh makes and sells gymnastics equipment and judo mats, among other products. Mizuno intends to take advantage of its sales network, whose customers include schools and community facilities, to boost sales under the Mizuno brand as well.

The Senoh brand will be kept for the time being, but a change in the future will be considered.

Senoh has received aid from the ETIC since 2010, after it had fallen into negative worth because of a shrinking market and its entry into the fitness business. For the year ended September 2011, it logged sales of 9.7 billion yen and a net profit of 792 million yen.