STYLE BLEACH Co., Ltd., a Shibuya-based e-commerce and apparel company founded in 2009, has disclosed a 5.07% stake in Nippon Chemical Industrial Co. (TSE: 4092), a holding built entirely with borrowed money rather than the retailer's own capital. STYLE BLEACH describes its own business as internet retail of apparel, accessories and household goods, a description that sits oddly next to its new position in a listed chemicals maker.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Stake acquired | 5.07% (452,500 shares) |
| Issuer shares outstanding | 8,922,775 |
| Funding amount | ¥2.16bn, fully borrowed |
| Lender | Akira Murakami, based in Singapore |
| Filing date | July 16, 2026 |
| Date requirement arose | July 9, 2026 |
The large shareholding report, filed with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau on July 16, 2026, shows STYLE BLEACH holding 452,500 of Nippon Chemical Industrial's 8,922,775 outstanding shares. The entire ¥2.16bn purchase price was funded by a single loan from Akira Murakami, an individual based in Singapore.
The filing's purpose-of-holding section reads like a menu rather than a demand letter. STYLE BLEACH states that it is providing, or may provide, advice and proposals aimed at lifting shareholder value, through spoken or written dialogue with Nippon Chemical Industrial's management. The listed options: changes to capital policy such as higher dividends or share buybacks, the sale of assets or subsidiaries the filer judges do not add to shareholder value, acquisitions that would support consolidation within the industry, and taking the company private, including through a management buyout. Separately, the filing marks "not applicable" on whether it has triggered a formal important-proposal act, a distinct legal category under Japan's large-shareholding disclosure rules rather than a judgment on whether informal proposals have already been raised.
STYLE BLEACH also left itself room to add to the position. It says it may acquire shares that increase its holding ratio by more than five percentage points within three months if it judges the stock price undervalued, through on-market or off-market trades, with no price, quantity or timing yet fixed. It could just as easily sell instead, depending on how the share price moves.
The 60-day transaction record attached to the filing lists a string of on-market purchases in blocks ranging from roughly 3,400 to 74,200 shares, on trading days between June 9 and July 9, the date that triggered the filing requirement.