Nippon Express Holdings completed its acquisition of Metro Supply Chain Group Inc., a Montréal-based contract-logistics company, on 1 October 2026 (Canadian time). It holds 100% of the 11,754,647 shares through a Canadian special-purpose company, 18268738 Canada Inc.
What was paid, and what may still be
The company's notice puts the acquisition price at an enterprise value of C$1.8bn, or ¥207bn at the ¥115-per-Canadian-dollar rate the company used for all conversions. A further sum of up to C$400mn (¥46bn) is payable in cash to the sellers, LDC Metro Holdings Inc. (56.0%) and CDP Investissements Inc. (44.0%), only if Metro hits financial indicators set in the share transfer agreement.
Two other Canadian-dollar figures are not the price. On 30 September, Nippon Express put C$1.8bn of capital into a newly formed Ontario company, 1001681010 Ontario Inc., which then injected C$1,252,816,213 into 18268738 Canada. Those are capital increases inside the group, and 18268738 Canada made the purchase.
The business
Metro, founded in 1974, runs contract logistics mainly in Canada, the US and the UK, for customers in retail, consumer goods, automotive and manufacturing, healthcare and wellness, technology services and the public sector. In the year to September 2025, it reported revenue of C$1,377,189 thousand, operating profit of C$56,433 thousand and net income of C$2,196 thousand. A net loss of C$16,398 thousand the year before shows how uneven the bottom line has been. Operating profit uses a local-standard measure: revenues less operating expenses and amortization.
| Year to September | Revenue (C$ thousand) | Operating profit (C$ thousand) | Net income (C$ thousand) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 873,260 | 44,401 | 10,916 |
| 2024 | 1,153,023 | 47,473 | -16,398 |
| 2025 | 1,377,189 | 56,433 | 2,196 |
Completion is not the end of the restructuring
The two special-purpose companies were each large enough, relative to Nippon Express's own capital, to count as a change in subsidiaries under Tokyo Stock Exchange listing rules. Nippon Express also filed an extraordinary report with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau. It records the Ontario company as a specified subsidiary from 30 September, because the C$1.8bn injection brought its capital to at least one-tenth of the parent's. Specified subsidiaries are those whose size crosses a regulatory threshold.
A local-law merger of 18268738 Canada and Metro is planned for 1 November 2026 (Canadian time), with the combined company keeping the name Metro Supply Chain Group Inc. After that, the two existing entities drop out as specified subsidiaries and the surviving Metro takes the status. The report describes the date as planned.
A corrected timetable
Nippon Express's board resolved on 17 April to agree the purchase with the sellers and to conclude a share transfer agreement, and the extraordinary report filed on the deal gave the timing as July to December 2026, conditional on steps such as completing competition-law procedures in various countries. A corrected report filed on 2 October replaces that window with 1 October 2026.
What remains open
Nippon Express says the effect on its consolidated results for the year ending December 2026 is still under review. It plans to announce its post-merger integration plan and progress in February 2027. Any benefit from the deal is therefore still to be shown.