Maruhachi Securities Co., Ltd. (JASDAQ:8700) signed a basic agreement to acquire Ace Securities Co., Ltd. from Fuji Soft Incorporated (TSE:9749) and others on November 22, 2013. Fuji Soft, Inc. is selling 32.98% stake, KI Co., Ltd. is selling 16.64% stake, AOKI Holdings, Inc. is selling 12.53% stake, Leopalace21 Corporation is selling 6.01% stake, Resona Bank, Ltd. is selling 3.69% stake, Asahi Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. is selling 1.95% stake, Shizuoka Shinkin Bank is selling 1.24% stake and Sugimura Warehouse Co., Ltd. is selling 1.06% stake and Japan Trustee Services Bank Ltd. is selling 0.78% stake in Ace Securities Co., Ltd. The joint holding company will allocate 1 share for every common share of Ace Securities and 0.51 shares for every common share of Maruhachi Securities. Post transaction, is establishing a new Joint holding company named ACE HOLDINGS INC. which will control both Maruhachi Securities Co., Ltd. and Ace Securities Co., Ltd.

For the period ending March 2013, Ace Securities Co., Ltd. reported total assets of ¥47.25 billion, net assets of ¥20.47 billion, revenues of ¥10.07 billion, operating profit of ¥1.5 billion and net profit of ¥1.97 billion. The transaction is subject to approval by shareholders of Maruhachi Securities Co., and Ace Securities Co., Ltd. due on January 24, 2014. The transaction is expected to close on April 1, 2014. As of January 7, 2014 Board of Directors' meeting at Maruhachi Securities and Ace resolved to extend the proceedings regarding the management integration. Strike Co., Ltd. acted as financial and Kaneko & Iwamatsu acted as legal advisor to Maruhachi Securities. Yokohama Sogo Law Office acted as the legal advisor for Ace Securities Co., Ltd.