Production and Logistic Functions of the Pet Care Business Split Off and Transferred to Subsidiary

Unicharm Corporation (CEO & President, Mr. Takahisa Takahara) hereby announces that, at the meeting of the Board of Directors held on February 22, 2023, it has resolved to split off and transfer the production and logistic functions of the Pet Care Business to its wholly owned subsidiary Unicharm Products Co., Ltd. (hereinafter as Unicharm Products). This function split off and transfer is planned with an effective date of January 1, 2024. 

The purpose of this functional split and transfer/integration into a consolidated subsidiary is as below.

i. 　Realize the increase of the Group’s overall flexibility by integrating its production and logistics functions with Unicharm Products, and ensure the resilience of the value chain under the “New Normal” environment in which changes have become the norm.

ii.　Realize the strengthening of human capital, which is indispensable for global development, by unifying the training and assignment of the human resources who are engaged in production and logistic functions.

iii.  Realize the creation of new added value by fusing the differing knowledge of non-woven fabric and absorber processing and forming technology possessed by Unicharm Products with the pet food production technology possessed by Pet Care Production Division of Unicharm.

ž・Unicharm has resolved to split off and transfer the production and logistic functions of the Pet Care Production Division to its wholly owned subsidiary Unicharm Products at the meeting of the Board of Directors held today, on February 22, 2023.

ž・Unicharm Products has resolved to the succession of the production and logistic functions of the Pet Care Production Division of Unicharm at the meeting of Board of Directors held today, on February 22, 2023.

ž・Based on the above, Unicharm and Unicharm Products have entered into an agreement for the separation and transfer of production and logistics functions of the pet care business, with an effective date of January 1, 2024. 

・ž1986:  Began manufacturing and selling pet care products as part of diversification

・ž1998:  Pet care business transferred to subsidiary “Uni-Taisei Corporation”

・žž1999:  Uni-Taisei changes company name to “Uni Heartous Corporation”

・ž2002:  Uni Heartous changes company name to “Unicharm PetCare Corporation

・ž2004:  Listed on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (First as a pet care manufacturer)

ž・ž2005:  Listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ditto)

・ž2010:  Unicharm absorbs Unicharm PetCare for the purpose of management rationalization and acceleration of overseas expansion

・ž2011:  Acquired Hartz Mountain Corporation, a manufacturer and distributor of pet care products in the U.S.

・ž2022:  Capital and business alliance with JIA PETS, which runs pet care business in China

ž・The sales for FY2022 was 125.3 billion yen (119.9% compared to FY2021), and core operating profit was 18.4 billion yen (125.5%).

ž・The number of pet owners has increased due to an increase in the number of hours spent at home as a result of COVID-19 in Japan and abroad. In light of these changes, we stepped up sales of pet food for dogs, including products tailored to the characteristics and age of each breed of dog and the new concept of “body-building food that maintains healthy muscles”. In cat food, we expanded our lineup of products that meet the needs of growing health-conscious consumers. In the pet toiletry business, we strengthened and nurtured products such as pet sheets for dogs and system toilets for cats, resulting in solid performance.

ž・The number of dogs and cats raised in China is approximately seven times^*1 that of Japan, and the pet care market, including pet food, is the second largest in the world after North America.  Given the circumstances and through the capital and business alliance with JIA PETS in 2022, we aim to largely expand our involvement in the Chinese Pet Care Business by integrating our capabilities in product development and production cultivated in the past years.

ž・In the North American market, as in Japan, people are spending more time with their dogs and cats as the number of pet owners increases. In response to these changes in the environment, we have developed dog sheets featuring technologies cultivated in Japan and wet-type supplementary food for cats, which were previously unavailable in the U.S. pet care market, and our business performance has been solid.

ž・In Asian countries and regions outside of China, the pet care market is expanding rapidly, especially in urban areas.

※　Source for Japan: Japan Pet Food Association 2021, Source for China: White Paper on China’s Pet Consumption Trends in 2021

The documents related will be attached on the same day to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.