Shionogi agrees $2bn IntraBio deal; Japan's carbon-storage levy goes out for comment

Operators must set aside funds for post-injection work and pay JOGMEC an annual levy sized to cover 30 years of monitoring and upkeep, with comments open until 31 October.

What changed: On 2 October 2026 the trade ministry's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy opened two consultations, both closing 31 October. One covers draft guidelines for running storage projects, issued jointly with the Environment Ministry. The other amends the screening criteria METI applies to permit and approval decisions under the carbon capture and storage law. The guidelines consultation is voluntary, not a statutory rulemaking procedure.

The catch: The cost comes after injection stops. The draft says operators must fund post-injection monitoring, closure work and emergency response during the injection period, by provisioning or other measures the minister approves. A separate annual levy goes to JOGMEC, set so the agency can fund 30 years of monitoring, emergency measures and upkeep of any wells or structures left in place, with a risk premium added. The 30-year period is not in the statute: the guidelines base it on foreign precedent and say it will be reviewed. An operator can apply to end its project only after at least ten years from its last injection, which the minister can shorten if the injected volume is small enough to stabilise within ten years.

Details: Operators must plan monitoring in three tiers: normal, concern and abnormal. They must report on their approved storage plan at least once a year, and a rise of less than 10% in estimated post-injection costs needs only notification. The amended screening criteria cover storage plan approvals, closure plans and the levy amount, and add grounds for ordering tariff changes, such as a clearly excessive storage fee. The storage and pipeline-transport provisions of the law took effect on 22 May 2026.

Regions in Tokyo's inland-quake zone or the Mount Fuji hazard area would be ruled out as alternative capital-function sites, and comments close on October 16.

What changed: The Cabinet Secretariat's draft cabinet order and ministerial ordinance put numbers on the new law on national social-function continuity and sub-capital development (Law No. 78 of 2026), with proposed thresholds of 14 national offices, 1.2% of population and 2.1% of GDP. A region would qualify as an alternative capital-function site only if it lies in neither the Tokyo inland-earthquake emergency countermeasure zone nor the Mount Fuji volcanic-disaster alert zone. Sub-capital designation would need either special wards or a prefecture-city cooperation pact.

Details: A prefecture and a designated city taking the pact route would draw up a joint basic plan, sign an agreement dividing tasks across eight areas of shared work, and hold a coordination meeting at least twice every fiscal year. The areas include industrial promotion, education and research, roads, rivers and ports, and disaster prevention. Results must be reported to each assembly and published.

What to watch: Public comment runs from October 3 to October 16, 2026, shorter than the usual 30 days because the order must match the law's entry into force. The draft schedule calls for the ordinance to be promulgated at the end of October 2026, and the outline names no city or prefecture that would meet the thresholds.

Drone suppliers seeking supply-plan certification would have to report actual or suspected cyberattacks through the ministry, with comments open until November 3.

What changed: The draft amends the drone supply-security policy METI issued on March 13, 2026 under Article 8(1) of the Economic Security Promotion Act. It adds a fifth implementation-structure condition: a company hit by a cyberattack, or possibly hit, must promptly report through METI to the National Cybersecurity Office in the Cabinet Secretariat.

Details: METI would recommend that certified suppliers obtain a ★4 rating under the supply-chain security evaluation scheme, which the draft says is scheduled to start in March 2027, and use IoT products carrying a JC-STAR label. Direct suppliers of materials and parts would be encouraged to obtain ★3 or ★4. The draft frames these points as recommendations. A new passage also lets METI investigate the impact of a business closure that threatens drone supply and urge the operator to submit a supply plan.

What to watch: Comments are open from October 5 until 23:59 on November 3. The draft leaves the effective date blank, and pending applications and existing certifications would continue under the earlier rules.

Chuo Warehouse will pay about ¥6.115bn including costs for 70% of Takara Logistics System, with closing planned for 1 April 2027 after a competition review.

What changed: Chuo Warehouse will buy 700,000 of the 1,000,000 shares in Takara Logistics System. The shares cost ¥5.985bn, the same sale price Takara Holdings gives, and Takara Holdings keeps the remaining 30%. The final price will follow the price-adjustment clause in the share transfer agreement.

Why it matters: In the year to March 2026 the target reported consolidated sales of ¥12.649bn, operating profit of ¥676mn and net profit attributable to owners of ¥869mn. Chuo says the company's nationwide delivery network and its handling of small-lot, many-item alcohol and food fit the food and beverage logistics field that its medium-term plan treats as strategic. Takara Holdings calls the subsidiary's results steady but expects demographics and alcohol consumption trends to cut the volumes it handles for a Takara group alcohol company, and says a logistics-focused owner suits its need for investment.

What to watch: Closing assumes the Japan Fair Trade Commission completes its review. Takara Holdings expects a gain on sale of affiliate shares of about ¥3.625bn in its consolidated results for the year to March 2028, and Chuo says the deal does not change its forecast for the year to March 2027.

Rakuten Group's 72.35% holding counts shares, not votes: 181,470,943 of its 293,293,023 Rakuten Bank shares are non-voting Class A shares.

What changed: Rakuten Group filed change report No. 002 on 5 October 2026 for a reporting obligation that arose on 1 October. The ratio divides 293,293,023 shares held by 405,407,096 shares outstanding, against 49.27% in the prior report. On 1 October the group acquired 207,330,443 Class A shares through a share delivery, then exercised its acquisition right on 25,859,500 of them and received 25,859,500 common shares in exchange.

The catch: Rakuten Group has agreed with Rakuten Bank not to exercise the acquisition right on its Class A shares, and take delivery of common shares, without the bank's prior written consent. The one carve-out is exercise without consent to the extent its voting ratio in the bank immediately afterwards stays at 50% or less. That agreement is the material-contract change the report flags.

Bottom line: Rakuten Group states its purpose as holding the shares as a stable shareholder and reports no significant proposals to the bank. The 181,470,943 Class A shares it still holds sit behind the consent condition.

Oasis Management says it has already made proposals in four categories and lists mergers, delisting and majority control among matters it plans to raise within 12 months.

What changed: Oasis now holds 22.60% of Infomart, up from 21.36%, or 60,449,100 shares against 267,507,864 outstanding as of 13 August 2026. The amended large-shareholding report was filed on 5 October for an obligation that arose on 28 September. Total acquisition funds were ¥34.0bn, all described as fund money, with no borrowings listed.

Details: Oasis says it has already proposed disposal of important assets, appointment of specified persons as officers, significant changes to board composition and discontinuing part of a business. Over the next 12 months it plans to add selection and dismissal of representative directors, mergers or share exchanges involving Infomart, company splits, delisting, and an acquisition that would leave another party with a majority of votes. The filing gives no terms for any of them and shows no transaction or governance change under way.

What to watch: Oasis plans to raise its holding by more than 5 percentage points through on-market and off-market trades, tied to Infomart's share price being at a level it judges undervalued. It plans to finish buying within three months of 28 September, though it says that could run past the window.

Names, emails and phone numbers of 10,788,963 Yakiniku King app users leaked after unauthorised access, and the company reports no confirmed misuse as of its disclosure.

What happened: The Monogatari Corporation said a third party gained unauthorised access to the app's member management system. Access was confirmed on Friday 2 October and the leak on Saturday 3 October. The affected users number 10,788,963 of 10,808,784 registered. The data includes member numbers, names as registered in the app, email addresses and phone numbers. Passwords, dates of birth, gender, postcodes and store-use history, including held points, were not leaked, and the company says it holds no credit card or other payment information.

What to watch: Monogatari has not confirmed that the data was made public or misused, but warned it could be used in spoofed emails and phishing. The cause is under detailed investigation. The company is proceeding with a report to the Personal Information Protection Commission and a police damage report, and is still assessing the effect on group earnings.

The company says it does not plan to ask shareholders to return the money, and an outside committee will examine director responsibility.

What changed: Both interim dividends were ¥14 per share. The one effective 5 December 2024 totalled ¥4.44bn against a distributable amount of ¥4.37bn, an excess of ¥71.7mn. The one effective 5 December 2025 totalled ¥4.44bn against ¥3.61bn, an excess of ¥833.2mn. Four fractional-share buybacks between February 2025 and March 2026, worth ¥18,451 combined, were also made after the limit had been exceeded.

Why it matters: The company's initial review found the distributable amount was not properly calculated and checked when the board resolved each dividend, and says the board did not know the limit was being exceeded. It points to a large treasury-share holding whose book value is deducted from surplus. Its auditor, Deloitte Tohmatsu, told the company on 30 September 2026 that the dividends might exceed the limit, and the company confirmed the excess on 1 October. That account is the company's own, not the committee's.

What to watch: Nihon M&A Center will set up a third-party committee of outside experts shortly to establish the facts and cause, consider whether directors and others bear responsibility, and propose preventive measures. The year-end dividends paid in June 2025 and June 2026 were within the distributable amount, and the company expects a minor effect on consolidated results.