While Takara and Tomy emphasized only yesterday that they had just entered negotiations rgearding a possible business tie-up, the two companies today held a press conference in Japan, stating that a consensus regarding the proposed merger's fundamentals has been reached. Effective March 1st 2006, the two companies will merge to form a new company called Takara Tomy. The new entity's president will be current Tomy president Kantarou Tomiyama, with Takara chairman Keita Satou assuming the position of vice president. Both will have executive powers. Unlike Bandai and Namco, Takara and Tomy won't establish a holdings company, but rather dissolve Takara. Shareholders will receive 0.178 Tomy shares for one Takara share. Takara's largest shareholder, the mobile contents distribution company Index, will also undertake a third-party allocation of Takara shares in late September and after the merger, remain the largest shareholder of Takara Tomy. Index had just acquired its 22.2% stake from Konami on April 25th. Furthermore, Index, Takara and Tomy will jointly set up a new company in order to strengthen the content business related to popular characters on September 1st. According to representatives of Takara and Tomy, Takara chairman Satou approached Tomy about the business tie-up after Konami had sold its stake in Takara to Index. Since Index's management also backed the move, the three parties were able to reach an agreement in such a short period of time.

• Asahi Shimbun