Houlihan Lokey Advises Yamazaki Baking

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Yamazaki Baking Co. Ltd. (Yamazaki) has acquired Kobeya Baking’s packaged bread wholesale business. The transaction closed on March 31, 2023.

Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Tokyo, Yamazaki (TYO:2212) is the world’s second and Japan’s largest manufacturer of packaged bread, with more than ¥1,000 billion sales and ¥300 billion market capitalization. Yamazaki provides a wide range of food products, including bread, sweet buns, Japanese and Western style confectionery, processed bread, and prepared rice and side dishes. It operates the bakery product business globally in the U.S., France, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and other countries.

Kobeya, founded in 1932 and headquartered in Osaka, is Japan’s fourth largest manufacturer of packaged bread. It mainly provides bakery products to retailers such as convenience stores, supermarkets, and drugstores. It also has several different business segments that engage in manufacturing frozen bread and operating restaurant business.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Yamazaki. This deal highlights the firm’s deep consumer food sector expertise and its capability to execute highly complex and wide-range-covered DD coordination. The transaction is expected to close in February 2023, subject to obtaining antitrust approval.