Future Corporation's own chairman is trying to buy out the shareholders he doesn't already control. Keywest Network, a holding vehicle wholly controlled by chairman Yasufumi Kanemaru, launched a tender offer on July 30 for all outstanding shares of the Tokyo Prime-listed IT consultancy it does not already own, at ¥2,451 per share. Future's board, acting through a three-member special committee of outside directors, voted unanimously (with Kanemaru recused) to back the offer and recommend shareholders tender.
The price took months of haggling to reach. Keywest's opening proposal in June was ¥1,950; the special committee pushed back five times before the offeror settled on ¥2,451 on July 28, a level that tops Future's all-time closing high of ¥2,439 set in August 2025. Kanemaru, who chairs Future and already holds 12.53% of its stock personally, will tender half of his own shares and place the rest in a trust that hands voting rights to Keywest once the deal closes, a structure designed to guarantee the two-thirds vote needed for a later squeeze-out.
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Offer price | ¥2,451 per share |
| Offer period | July 30 to September 10, 2026 (30 business days) |
| Minimum shares sought | 23,376,700 shares |
| Bidder's pre-offer stake | 30,187,000 shares (34.02%) |
| Year-end dividend | Cut to ¥0 per share, conditional on the offer succeeding |
The mechanics matter for anyone still holding the stock. Keywest has set a floor of 23,376,700 shares, which combined with its existing 34.02% stake would push its post-deal voting control past the two-thirds threshold required to force out remaining holders by share consolidation. There is no ceiling on how many shares it will buy. Financing comes from a loan arranged with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, with Future's own shares pledged as collateral.
Shareholders who sit out the offer face a dividend hit either way. On the same day it launched the recommendation, Future's board cut its year-end dividend forecast to zero from a previously announced ¥24 per share, conditional on the tender offer actually succeeding; the interim dividend of ¥24 already paid this year stands, but the annual total falls to ¥24 from the ¥48 originally guided. If the deal collapses, the company has not said whether the year-end payout would be restored.
The buyout comes as Future posts solid numbers on its own. First-half sales rose 7.5% to ¥38.3bn and operating profit climbed 3.8% to ¥7.4bn, with net profit up 13.0% to ¥5.2bn, helped by a cloud banking system rollout at SBI Shinsei Bank and a narrower loss at its YOCABITO retail unit. Full-year guidance was left unchanged. Management's stated rationale for going private centers on shielding multi-year AI investment and restructuring plans from quarterly market scrutiny, according to the board's own account of the negotiations. The tender offer runs through September 10, after which Future expects to pursue delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market.