JS Group Corp. Acquires Permasteelisa

On August 4, 2011, JS Group Corporation (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President: Yoshiaki Fujimori (“JSGC”) and Cima Claddings S.A. (Headquarters: Luxembourg) executed the share purchase agreement under which JSGC, through its consolidated subsidiary LIXIL Corporation (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President: Yoshiaki Fujimori) (“LIXIL”), acquires entire stock of Permasteelisa S.p.A.(Headquarters: Italy)(“Permasteelisa”) from Cima Claddings S.A., a company indirectly controlled by the European private equity firms InvestIndustrial and Alpha.

Pursuant to the share purchase agreement, LIXIL will acquire 25,613,544 common shares (100% of the total shares issued and outstanding) of Permasteelisa from the current shareholder Cima Claddings S.A.; the purchase price is expected to be approximately 573 million euro in total (approximately 63 billion yen).The transaction is subject to the successful obtainment of competition law approvals at each relevant country, upon which the payment of consideration and the transfer of shares will take place.

Permasteelisa, which will become one of our subsidiaries after the transaction, is a worldwide leading contractor in the engineering, project management, manufacturing and installation of architectural envelopes and interior systems, with the operation in 27 countries in the world. We consider that Permasteelisa’s primary strengths are the global presence and the ability to provide full-range services from plan proposals to installation. Above all, high-end curtain wall is their core business as proven by their established position in the markets in Europe, Asia, North America and other areas of the world.