Nippon Sangyo Suishin Kiko (“NSSK”; www.nsskjapan.com) is pleased to announce that investment partnerships managed or provided with services by NSSK affiliates formed a capital and business alliance with KiiT Co., Ltd. (“KiiT”; http://www.lamore.jp/).

Since its establishment in 2010, KiiT operates 14 nursing homes primarily in Nagoya City, providing home-visit nursing care and medical services for residents who are dependent on medical care and require a high level of nursing care. Through its dominant strategy and its capability to provide medical services, KiiT has achieved high occupancy rates and high unit price, resulting in a robust EBITDA margin. With the decline in hospital beds in Japan, demand for nursing homes and hospice care services has increased, providing essential care options for the elderly and terminally ill. NSSK believes that KiiT can play a key role in meeting this need.

Building on the business foundation that KiiT has established in the hospice care services market, which has maintained stable growth over the last decade, NSSK aims to provide support through its NSSK Value-up Program (“NVP^®”), its business expertise, and its domestic and international network, working with the current management team so that KiiT can achieve more robust growth in its next stage of development. NSSK will seek to support the planning and implementation of business improvement measures, which include establishing KPIs, strengthening governance and compliance systems, enhancing marketing strategies, developing new facilities, accelerating growth through M&A, promoting KiiT’s corporate philosophy, and advancing its ESG initiatives.

Additionally, we believe that we can fully leverage the industry knowledge in the nursing care sector that has been accumulated through previous investments such as Vati, Care Medical, and Welfare Suzuran, as well as NSSK’s strengths and expertise in areas like multi-location expansion and employee recruitment and development. The current management team is expected to continue to lead KiiT, with NSSK providing support as a key partner.

NSSK’s mission is to do what is right as a human being, build a world class investment management company and dedicate ourselves to the promotion of ESG values. NSSK’s investment strategy is to generate superior outcomes by applying global investment discipline, operating expertise and human capital to Japanese companies originating from NSSK’s proprietary and differentiated sourcing network.