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Matsuzakaya to shift to holding firm system in September+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)NAGOYA, April 13_(Kyodo) _ Matsuzakaya Co. said Thursday it will establish a holding company on Sept. 1 to supervise its overall business operations as well as those of group supermarket and other firms. The new corporate structure is designed to enhance managerial efficiency by expediting decision making, a statement issued the same day by the Nagoya-based department chain said. The new holding company, called Matsuzakaya Holdings, will take over all shareholders in Matsuzakaya and turn the latter firm into a wholly owned subsidiary, Matsuzakaya said. The holding company is scheduled to list on the first sections of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Nagoya Stock Exchange on Sept. 1, as Matsuzakaya currently is. Matsuzakaya stock is due to be delisted on Aug. 28. Current executives at Matsuzakaya will double as senior officials at the holding company for a while, the company said. An investment fund led by activist shareholder Yoshiaki Murakami is believed to own a large block of Matsuzakaya shares. Fending off onslaughts from such funds apparently was one of the considerations that prompted Matsuzakaya's decision to reorganize its operations. The business environment has been transformed significantly amid vigorous moves by investment funds and that has made it necessary to come up with a system that would make it possible to manage Matsuzakaya's operations flexibly, President Kunihiko Okada told a press conference the same day. |