Adways to Enter into Capital and Business Alliance with Hakuhodo DY Media Partners andDispose of Treasury Stock to the Company Via Third-Party Allotments

Nov 22- Adways Inc. (Head Office: Tokyo, CEO: Haruhisa Okamura, hereinafter referred to as Adways) and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc. (Head Office: Tokyo, CEO: Hirotake Yajima, hereinafter referred to as “Hakuhodo DY Media Partners”) resolved at board of directors’ meetings of both companies held today to enter into a capital and business alliance agreement aimed at improving corporate value by enhancing collaboration in the field of online advertising for brand advertisers, mainly in app marketing area.

In conjunction with the signing of this capital and business alliance agreement, Adways will dispose its treasury stock by means of third-party allotment, with Hakuhodo DY Media Partners as the allottee. The latter intends to acquire 2,837,800 shares of treasury stock on December 9 (equivalent to 6.82% of the total shares issued by Adways as of September 30, 2019).

1. Overview of Business Alliance

According to Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Institute of Media Environment’s Fixed-Point Media Survey 2019,*1 consumers’ media exposure time is approximately 412 minutes per day. Of this, 150 minutes – or more than 35% – is accounted for by exposure on cell phones/smartphones and tablets.
Changes in the media exposure habits of consumers due to the spread of smart devices, especially smartphones, has also significantly impacted companies’ implementation of marketing, communications and promotion. The pace of change is expected to accelerate further due to advances in communications infrastructure driven by 5G technology and the growth of various IoT-based services.

Furthermore, in recent years, with the growth of financing and payment services (e-commerce, etc.), and various subscription services (e.g., personnel matching services), the number of companies utilizing apps as a touch point for customer experience is increasing. Brand advertisers who in the past implemented marketing that revolved around mass media such as TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines are now placing greater emphasis on the online advertising market revolving around smartphones.

Within the context of the fast-growing online advertising market, the Adways Group has offered optimal advertising distribution – particularly in the area of app marketing aimed at app downloading and activation – using UNICORN (a fully automated marketing platform), the STROBELIGHTS series (a comprehensive support system for performance-based ads), and Dobel (a tool for mass generation of video creatives).

Meanwhile, driven by this market environment, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners has handled the Hakuhodo DY Group’s media content business, delivering integrated brand and media services that leverage its optimal problem-solving capabilities to advertisers, media companies, and content holders, and earned the trust of a wide range of advertising companies.

By combining the strengths of the Adways Group, such as its capacity for implementing digital advertising, creative production, and ability to develop ad tech solutions, with the strengths of Hakuhodo DY Media Partners and the Hakuhodo DY Group, such as the network of media and content holders that they own and their ability to propose tailored solutions for advertising companies, this capital and business alliance between the two companies will enable the two companies to work together to establish a robust business promotion structure, including joint development of advertising management tools, enhanced sales of unique advertising solutions, and coordinated sales activities targeting new customers.

Adways and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners decided to enter into a capital and business alliance partnership at this time based on their judgment that the establishment of a robust business promotion structure will enable both companies to provide even more optimal, effective, and efficient advertising opportunities to advertising companies, resulting in improved corporate value.

*1 Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Institute of Media Environment, “Fixed-Point Media Survey 2019,” May 23, 2019.
https://www.hakuhodody-media.co.jp/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/HDYmpnews20190523.pdf

2. Overview of Capital Alliance

Adways plans to allocate 2,837,800 common shares to Hakuhodo DY Media Partners by means of treasury stock disposal, with a disposal date of December 9, 2019 (6.82% of the 41,588,500 total shares issued by Adways as of September 30, 2019, or 7.32% of the 387,450 total voting rights).

3. Hakuhodo DY Media Partners: Corporate Overview

Name:	Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc.
CEO:	Hirotake Yajima
Head Office:	3-1 Akasaka 5-chome, Minato Ward, Tokyo
Established:	December 1, 2003
Capital:	9.5 billion yen
Employees:	837 (as of April 1, 2019)
URL	https://www.hakuhodody-media.co.jp

Going forward, Adways will continue striving to address market needs, further expand its services, and improve the reliability and transparency of digital advertising in a flexible manner while pursuing the development of efficient, practical advertising and marketing services in countries around the world.