Houlihan Lokey Advises Morinaga

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that, on March 6, 2026, Morinaga & Co., Ltd. (Morinaga) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MyMo Holdco, Inc. (My/Mochi) from Lakeview Capital, Inc. The transaction is expected to close on April 1, 2026.

Headquartered in Tokyo and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Morinaga is a global food and beverage and confectionery manufacturer. While Morinaga has accumulated expertise in the value chain in the Japanese ice cream market, it has also cultivated brand strength in the U.S. through its HI-CHEW business, built strong relationships with retailers, and enhanced its local management expertise since 2008. Under its “2030 Business Plan”, Morinaga positions its U.S. business as one of the focused domain categories driving strong growth in its overseas business.

Founded in 1910 and headquartered in California, United States, My/Mochi is a mochi ice cream manufacturer offering premium mochi ice cream as its mainstay, characterized by high quality and diverse flavors, supported by careful production methods that carry on the dedication to Japanese confectionery making of its predecessor, the long-established Japanese confectionery store Mikawaya. With strengths including brand power, distribution to major retailers across the U.S., and domestic manufacturing systems in the U.S., My/Mochi holds the number one market share in the U.S. mochi ice cream market.

Through this acquisition, Morinaga will combine the assets of both My/Mochi and Morinaga‘s U.S. business, aiming to achieve sustainable growth by enhancing product appeal, ensuring a stable supply of the existing mochi ice cream business, and optimizing costs. Morinaga will also leverage the group’s strengths to create synergies, such as high-value-added product development for innovative products and new markets, with the aim of building a value chain for the Frozen Desserts Business that leads to new value creation in the U.S.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Morinaga. The transaction further demonstrates Houlihan Lokey’s extensive expertise in the food and beverages sector and its leading position in supporting Japanese corporations in their overseas expansion.

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