After an unsuccessful attempt to take control of Roland DG almost two years ago, Brother Industries announces its intention to acquire Mutoh through a public tender offer for all outstanding shares. This would represent a total consideration of 35 billion yen (around 190 million euros).
With this takeover, the Japanese group historically positioned in office and home printers aims to strengthen its position in the industrial printing market, where it has already been present since the 2015 acquisition of Domino in textile and large-format latex printing. Mutoh would be just the first step.
"Mutoh benefits from a wide range of large-format printers and a strong reputation in the field of printers and inks. Although the product ranges of the two companies belong to closely related fields, they do not overlap and are complementary." indicates Brother.
Mutoh, a Japanese manufacturer of plotters and large-format printing machines founded in 1942 and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, posted consolidated sales of 18.1 billion yen (98 million euros) in fiscal 2024. It employs 595 people. Its core business is based on a range of large-format inkjet printers for the graphic arts, roll-to-roll printers, CAD plotters and associated software.
As for Brother, by 2024 it has posted sales of 876.6 billion yen (4.75 billion euros), 30% of which in industry. By 2030, through various acquisitions, it aims to achieve sales of 1,000 billion yen (5.42 billion euros), half of which will be generated in industry.
"Promoting sales growth in the industrial sector is a pillar of business portfolio transformation" says the group.
And within this Industry Division, Brother is looking to strengthen its Industrial Printing business. Industrial Printing accounted for 137.3 billion yen (745 million euros) in 2024âeuros; its target for fiscal 2027 is 155 billion yen (840 million euros).
The offer period runs for 30 business days, from February 5 to March 23, 2026. If the required holding threshold is reached, Brother will initiate the procedures required to complete the delisting.
