Mitsubishi Electric brings in ABB; Nidec's liability report names nine

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has put draft changes to Japan's export-control rules out for public comment from 19 October to 18 November 2026. Nothing is in force, and METI says it will use comments as reference for its final decision without replying individually.

What changed: The draft adds nucleic acid synthesis equipment that has no joining function and deletes equipment that only joins nucleic acids. It also adds additive-manufacturing equipment for making explosive devices. For automated synthesis equipment, the test of continuous length above 1.5 kilobases at an error rate under 5% would be replaced by one of above 0.5 kilobase.

The number: For processors, the draft keeps the control at a total processing performance of 6,000 or more and adds a band from 1,600 to under 6,000 with a performance density of 5.92 or more, excluding chips not designed for data-centre use. A draft circular defines performance density as that performance figure divided by the applicable die area in square millimetres.

What to watch: The draft ministerial order would take effect two months after promulgation, and applicants could file licence applications before that date. Exporters will need the old-and-new comparison tables, since the triggers are written as technical specifications rather than sector labels.

Nidec has published the officer-liability report it received on 16 October, with some parts withheld to protect trade secrets and personal privacy. The committee concluded that six former directors, including the founder and former presidents, are liable under Article 423(1) of the Companies Act. Two former full-time audit-committee members face the same provision, and a former chief financial officer is liable under the Civil Code or Nidec's executive-officer rules.

What happened: The committee's core finding is about method. It says Nidec set an operating-profit target first and allowed impairments and write-offs only within it, reversing the normal order of accounting, and it ties this to the asset-health project that began in November 2016. It counted ¥22.2bn of investigation costs among the losses Nidec bore. Two people whose lapses were limited to accounting cases at a precision-components subsidiary were not held liable.

What to watch: The committee did not apportion damages by contribution and leaves that to a court in any liability suit. Nidec says it is weighing damages claims or other legal measures and will disclose its decision promptly. It has not said it will sue.

Koito Manufacturing resolved on 28 September 2026 to dissolve and liquidate its wholly owned car-lighting maker in Hubei province, and announced the step on 20 October. The unit was established in September 2014 and has capital of ¥5bn.

Context: Koito ran its China business through three companies. It dissolved the Fuzhou unit in April 2025 and in March 2026 moved production of marker lamps to the Guangzhou company. The notice cites the rapid spread of electric vehicles, the rise of Chinese local carmakers, and slowing sales and falling share at Japanese carmakers, which it calls its main customers.

The catch: Koito calls the effect on results for the year to March 2027 minor, but the notice gives no cost estimate, headcount or write-off figure, and the liquidation schedule is undecided.

Ferrotec's wholly owned Chinese subsidiary will pay 150mn yuan (about ¥3.6bn) in cash for a 46.7% stake in AMTD, which makes aluminium showerheads for semiconductor equipment. That would lift Ferrotec's voting stake from 20.3% to 67.6%, with the share transfer planned for 30 November.

Details: AMTD was founded in June 2024. For the year to March 2026 it reported sales of ¥478.9mn, an operating loss of ¥352.1mn and a net loss of ¥440.9mn. Its capital of 300mn yuan (about ¥7.1bn) exceeds 10% of Ferrotec's capital, which makes it a specified subsidiary. The notice lists the seller's holding at 47.3% elsewhere, so its percentages do not reconcile exactly.

Why it matters: The seller started the showerhead business but mainly sells clinical laboratory analysis instruments and diagnostic reagents, and semiconductors are not its core. Ferrotec says adding AMTD's products to its range should raise revenue from chip-equipment makers. AMTD's shareholder meeting is set for 30 October, and Ferrotec expects a minor effect on current-year results.

KDX Kolet REIT, a newly formed trust sponsored by Kenedix, filed a securities registration statement dated 20 October 2026 to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange REIT market. It offers up to 516,991 units at an estimated issue value of ¥49.89bn, and the offer price is not yet set.

Details: The REIT plans to buy trust beneficial interests in 2,281 homes: 906 in Tokyo, 398 in Kanagawa, 507 in Saitama and 470 in Chiba. The total acquisition price is ¥91.95bn against a total appraised value of ¥103.12bn. The average building age is 2.7 years, and the appraisal-based net operating income yield is 5.1%.

The move: A price range is due on 9 November, demand is declared from 10 to 13 November and pricing is on 16 November. Lenders arranged by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation are expected to provide ¥21.8bn due November 2027 and ¥23.8bn due November 2029. Loan-to-value is estimated at 46.1% on total assets, against a stated 60% ceiling.

The catch: The sellers are related parties under the manager's internal rules. The filing calls this the first green equity offering at listing by a J-REIT, which is the REIT's own claim. R&I's second opinion says the green principles were not written for equity, so it judged only that the framework follows their spirit.

Tsugami, the Tokyo Prime-listed machine tool maker, raised its forecast for the six months to September 2026. It now expects sales of ¥81.2bn against ¥75.0bn, operating profit of ¥25.2bn against ¥19.5bn, and profit attributable to owners of ¥12.3bn against ¥9.0bn.

Details: The percentage increases, including 36.7% on attributable profit, measure the change from the May forecast, not year-on-year growth. Last year's first-half actuals were sales of ¥60.1bn and operating profit of ¥15.2bn. Tsugami says business at its sites, including in the Chinese and Indian markets, advanced steadily and put results above the earlier forecast.

The move: The interim dividend forecast rises by ¥12 to ¥61 a share. The year-end forecast stays at ¥49 because Tsugami will announce it with a full-year forecast it is still reviewing. The annual dividend forecast is now ¥110, against ¥98 before.

What to watch: Tsugami says it will publish the full-year forecast for the year to March 2027 with its first-half results on November 12.

BCJ-110's tender offer for eSOL ran from September 2 to October 19 at ¥820 per share, with a floor of 10,535,800 shares. Holders tendered 12,759,681 shares, enough for 64.70% of eSOL's voting rights once payment settles on October 26.

Details: BCJ-110's tender-offer report puts its ownership at 78.05% once holdings of its special related parties are added. BCJ-110 was set up on June 1, 2026 and is wholly owned by BCJ-109, which is wholly owned by BCPE Energy Cayman, L.P. At settlement, eSOL's employee shareholding association, now the top shareholder with 10.35% of voting rights, ceases to be the largest.

What to watch: BCJ-110 plans a series of procedures to leave only itself and two holders of 2,610,720 shares, who agreed not to tender, as shareholders. If they are carried out, eSOL would be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard market. The steps and timing are yet to be announced, and eSOL remains listed until then.

Ariake Capital now holds 10.09% of Tokyo Kiraboshi Financial Group, up from 9.00%. Its change report, No. 4, puts the holding at 29,186,100 shares against 289,189,176 outstanding as of October 13, the date the reporting obligation arose.

Details: Ariake describes the holding as basically a pure investment made under a discretionary investment contract. It says it seeks returns through improvement in medium- and long-term corporate value. The topics it names for talks with management are maximising the value of the group's Tokyo-area base, UI Bank's deposit-gathering strategy in an era of positive interest rates, risk management and governance across a group with many subsidiaries, and growth strategy. The section on important proposals reads not applicable.

Context: The report puts total acquisition funding at ¥45.14bn, made up of ¥2.23bn borrowed from Tachibana Securities and ¥42.91bn labelled customer funds. That total covers the whole holding, not the latest increase. The report does not say management has accepted any of the points raised.