PAPYLESS CO.,Ltd., the Tokyo-listed digital comics and e-book retailer, used a single off-auction trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to buy back the entire 900,000-share stake held by Sega Sammy Holdings, its second-largest shareholder. The company disclosed the trade on TDnet and filed a matching extraordinary report with Japan's EDINET system on August 21, 2026.
The transaction, executed through the ToSTNeT-3 off-auction mechanism, cost PAPYLESS ¥875.7mn for shares equal to 10.37% of its issued stock excluding treasury holdings. Sega Sammy told PAPYLESS it had sold its entire holding, cutting its voting stake from 10.37% (9,000 voting units) to zero and ending its run as a major shareholder.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Shares repurchased | 900,000 shares (10.37% of shares outstanding, excluding treasury stock) |
| Total repurchase cost | ¥875.7mn |
| Execution date and method | August 21, 2026, via ToSTNeT-3 off-auction trade |
| Sega Sammy's stake before the trade | 10.37% (900,000 shares), second-largest shareholder |
| Sega Sammy's stake after the trade | 0.00% |
| Board-authorized buyback ceiling | Up to 1,000,000 shares (11.52%) or ¥1.1bn, through September 30, 2026 |
The trade sits inside a wider repurchase program PAPYLESS's board approved on July 15, 2026: authorization to buy back up to 1,000,000 shares, or 11.52% of shares outstanding, for as much as ¥1.1bn, running from July 16 through September 30, 2026. The August 21 purchase used most of that headroom in one transaction, leaving room for smaller purchases before the program lapses at the end of September.
PAPYLESS executed the buyback through ToSTNeT-3, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's off-auction trading system. PAPYLESS noted it has not yet confirmed the actual number of shares held under Sega Sammy's name. The company said it expects the shift in its major-shareholder roster to have only a minor effect on its consolidated results for the fiscal year ending March 2027.
Neither the TDnet notice nor the EDINET extraordinary report, which PAPYLESS filed with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, states why Sega Sammy exited the position. The filings confirm the mechanics of the exit, not the motive. With roughly 10.3 million shares outstanding, PAPYLESS now holds the repurchased block as treasury stock rather than leaving it in the hands of a new outside buyer.