Medirom Healthcare Technologies Announces
Acquisition of Japan Gene Medicine Corporation
New York/July 10, 2024 - MEDIROM Healthcare Technologies Inc. (“we”, “our”, “us” or “the Company”) hereby announces that the Company plans to acquire a majority of Japan Gene Medicine Corporation (the “Target Company”). On June 30, 2024, the Company entered into a share transfer agreement (the "Share Transfer Agreement") to acquire 70.0% of the shares of the Target Company from an individual shareholder. The Company has also entered into a legally binding memorandum of understanding (the "Additional Transfer Memorandum of Understanding"), effective as of June 30, 2024, to obtain an option to acquire the remaining 30.0% of the Target Company’s shares from the seller. The closings of the transactions under the Share Transfer Agreement and Additional Transfer Memorandum of Understanding are each subject to certain conditions. Certain of these closing conditions under the Share Transfer Agreement are summarized below.
Japan Gene Medicine is a company engaged in the prenatal diagnosis business, providing genetic testing and analysis, and the company does business with major private, public and university hospitals in Japan. By understanding the condition of the fetus and the presence of any diseases or disorders, medical professionals can consider the most appropriate method of delivery and therapeutic education tailored to the condition of the fetus.
Although in other countries, especially in Europe and the United States, similar prenatal genetic testing services have become commonly available and utilized, in Japan, such services have not been common, with only 7.2% of pregnant women using such services in 2016.(*1)
Furthermore, in Japan and the Asian region at large, certain demographic trends point to Japan Gene Medicine’s significant growth potential. In the region, the childbearing age is increasing and the birthrate is declining rapidly therefore the potential need and benefits of genetic testing and analysis is increasing.
Kouji Eguchi, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We believe that Japan Gene Medicine is one of the most competitive companies in the genetic testing and analysis services space and we expect future demand in Japan to grow rapidly. In the past, there has been insufficient marketing and education regarding such services and their value, which we believe presents a significant market opportunity.”
“We also believe there are significant synergies with our wellness salon business, Re.Ra.Ku®︎. Japan Gene Medicine’s target age group for women is in their 20s to 40s, which matches Re.Ra.Ku’s and will allow us to expand our service offering and improve our value proposition and customer experience.”
“The acquisition of Japan Gene Medicine is in line with our strategic objective to become a holistic healthcare company that provides comprehensive solutions and services for prevention and treatment. We obtain assets that further expand our presence in Japan and our commitment to grow in the Healthcare Technology industry. Japan Gene Medicine adds to our HealthTech solutions portfolio consisting of our on-demand training application “Lav®︎” that provides specific health guidance; our development and manufacturing of the world’s first smart tracker bracelet that does not require charging, “MOTHER Bracelet®”; and our deployment of our device-based monitoring system, “REMONY”.”
Share Acquisition from the Target Company and the Seller
In addition to the prenatal genetic testing and analysis services provided by Japan Gene Medicine, two other companies that are substantially owned by the seller offer these services. Japan Gene Medicine, which owns the testing equipment, provides subcontracted testing and analysis services to these two companies. As a condition to the closing of the share transfer, the Japan Gene Medicine and such other two companies will conclude amended subcontracting agreements in forms reasonably satisfactory to us. Based on our negotiations with the seller, it is expected that such new subcontracts will revise the price of the subcontracted testing services so that substantially all the economic benefits of these services accrue to Japan Gene Medicine.
We have agreed with the seller on transfer consideration based on an enterprise value of six times Adjusted EBITDA(*2), which was calculated on an adjusted basis assuming that the aforementioned economic benefits had accrued to the Target Company for the one-year period ended December 31, 2023.