GMO Commerce, Inc. (TSE Growth: 410A) told shareholders on September 24 that its board had resolved to buy every share of GMO NIKKO Co., Ltd. and GMO Insight Co., Ltd. from sibling company GMO Internet, Inc., turning a store-marketing specialist into a three-part advertising, media and data operation for a combined ¥3.61bn, including about ¥7mn in advisory costs. The deal is scheduled to close on October 1, when both companies become consolidated subsidiaries.
| Feature | GMO NIKKO | GMO Insight |
|---|---|---|
| Business | Digital marketing, ad-tech, tools and solutions | Media (michill), social games, partner solutions |
| Acquisition price | ¥2.1bn | ¥1.5bn |
| Year to Dec 2025 revenue | ¥8.97bn | ¥1.63bn |
| Year to Dec 2025 operating profit | ¥100mn | ¥260mn |
| Net assets | ¥1.81bn | ¥549mn |
GMO Commerce frames the purchase as the first step toward what it calls an "AI-era marketing platform," arguing that AI-generated answers are replacing conventional search results and shifting purchase decisions to AI agents, which makes owning first-party customer data more valuable. The company expects the deal to let it cross-sell across GMO Internet's roughly 13 million infrastructure customers as of June 2026, GMO NIKKO's advertiser base and GMO Insight's media audience, three customer pools it describes as having little overlap.
The acquisition already shows up in revised guidance the company published the same day. Consolidating GMO NIKKO and GMO Insight's fourth-quarter results lifts the year-to-December 2026 sales forecast to ¥5.66bn from ¥3.36bn, a 68.5% jump. Operating profit guidance rises a smaller ¥80mn, to ¥740mn, as the company absorbs new goodwill amortisation charges, and ordinary income gains ¥79mn, to ¥730mn, after accounting for interest expense on the borrowing planned to fund the purchase. Net profit attributable to shareholders, after those costs, edges up just ¥12mn, or 2.8%, to ¥440mn, with earnings per share rising to ¥80.18 from ¥77.78. GMO Commerce cautions that the forecast still depends on the share transfers actually completing and on how the two businesses perform once folded in.
The same day's paperwork also discloses a change in who will control GMO Commerce. Its current parent, GMO Internet Group, Inc., resolved to transfer its entire 66.02% stake, 35,964 voting rights, to its own subsidiary, GMO Internet, Inc., effective October 1. The move keeps the ownership percentage unchanged but replaces the direct parent: GMO Internet, Inc. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4784), a company with ¥10.69bn in capital, is set to become the entity consolidating GMO Commerce's results once the transfer takes effect.
Shareholders get something out of the reshuffle too. Because GMO Commerce's payout policy sets dividends at 65% of consolidated profit or an 8% return on shareholders' equity, whichever is higher, the improved earnings forecast pushed the board to raise its year-end dividend forecast to ¥52.12 a share from ¥50.56, an increase of ¥1.56. That compares with a ¥40.30 payout for the year ended December 2025. The company says the payout formula itself has not changed, only the profit base it is applied to.