Marubeni Corporation (丸紅株式会社, Marubeni Kabushiki-gaisha) (TYO: 8002, OSE: 8002, NSE: 8002) is a sōgō shōsha (general trading company) headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan.[1] It is one of the largest sogo shosha and has leading market shares in cereal and paper pulp trading as well as a strong electrical and industrial plant business.[2] Marubeni is a member of the Mizuho keiretsu.
Marubeni was founded in 1858, where the founder Chubei Itoh moved out of the family business and started a linen trading business with his uncle. It was established in 1918 as Itochu Shoten, Ltd. in a spin-off of certain sales divisions of C. Itoh & Co. (Itochu) into a separate entity. Itochu Shoten merged with Itoh Chobei Shoten in 1921 to form Marubeni Shoten, Ltd. under the leadership of Chobei Itoh IX.[3] Marubeni started out as a textile trading firm and expanded to trade in other consumer and industrial goods during the 1920s.[4]
Marubeni was re-combined with Itochu during World War II to form Sanko Kabushiki Kaisha Ltd. (1941–44) and Daiken Company, Ltd. (1944–48). This conglomerate was dismantled in the wake of the war and Marubeni again emerged as a separate trading company in 1949.[3] Post-war Marubeni was predominantly a textile trading firm at its outset, but diversified into machinery, metals and chemicals, with textiles barely forming a majority of its business by the end of the decade.[4]
Marubeni merged with Takashimaya-Iida, a trading company that owned the Takashimaya department store chain, in 1955, changing its name to Marubeni-Iida from 1955 to 1972.[4] The merger was orchestrated by Fuji Bank in order to create a stronger trading company partner for the bank’s corporate customers. Marubeni and Fuji Bank developed a network of corporate clients which was formalized as the Fuyo Group keiretsu in the 1960s, paralleling the development of the DKB Group and Sanwa Group.[5] The Fuyo Group included Hitachi, Nissan, Canon, Showa Denko, Kubota and Nippon Steel.[4]
Marubeni, like other sogo shosha, was hit hard by the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble in the early 1990s and recorded its first annual net loss in 1998. The company again booked massive losses as part of a restructuring in 2001, with its stock price plummeting to 58 yen per share in December 2001.[6]
Marubeni acquired a large minority stake in the Daiei supermarket chain in 2006, which it sold to Æon Group in 2013.[7]
The Tokyo Stock Exchange recognized Marubeni as the best Japanese company at increasing enterprise value in 2013, citing management’s efforts to maximize return on equity.[8]
In September 2018, The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Marubeni Corporation and Russia’s AEON Corporation agreed to develop an industrial facility in Volgograd. The total investment is estimated at over $800 million with construction due to start in 2020.[9]
In September 2018, Marubeni announced to shift from coal to renewable energy resources.[10][11]
Berkshire Hathaway acquired over 5% of the stock in the company, along with four other Japanese trading houses, over the 12-month period ending in August 2020.[12]
In October 2021, Marubeni invested in B2U Storage Solutions, a Santa Monica-based startup which reuses EV batteries to a battery storage system.[13]
In January 2022, Marubeni has won the sea bed right of the Scotland to construct an off shore wind farm. They have partnered with SSE Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. Aside of Scotland, Marubeni is working on Japan’s first off shore wind farm as well as floating turbine demonstrations. [14]