Benesse

Benesse Holdings, Inc.
	Headquarters inOkayama
Native name	Kabushiki gaisha ベネッセホールディングス
Formerly	Fukutake Publishing (1955-1987); Fukutake Shoten (1987-1995); Benesse Corporation (1995-2009)
Company type	PrivateKK
Industry	Educational Services
Founded	January 28, 1955;69 years ago
Headquarters	Okayama, Japan
Key people	Eikoh Harada; (President)
Revenue	JPY430.064 billion (2017)
Operating income	JPY7.685 billion (2017)
Net income	JPY3.557 billion (2017)
Owner	EFU Investments Ltd.; (2024–present); BPEA EQT; (2024–present);
Number of employees	21,022 (consolidated) (2017)
Subsidiaries	Berlitz Language Schools
Website	benesse.co.jp

Benesse Corporation(ベネッセコーポレーション,Benesse Kōporēshon)is a Japanese company which focuses on correspondence education and publishing. Based inOkayama,it is the parent company ofBerlitz Language Schools,which in turn is the parent company ofELS Language Centers.Benesse is listed on theTokyo Stock Exchange(listing code 9783).

The company name is derived from the Latin words "bene" (well) and "esse" (being).

History

The company was founded in 1955 as Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd.(Kabushiki gaisha phúc võ hiệu sách,Kabushiki-gaisha Fukutake Shoten)by Tetsuhiko Fukutake, a publisher of educational materials. In 1986, Soichiro Fukutake succeeded his father as president on the latter's death.^[2]His sonHideaki Fukutakeis a company director.^[3]

In 1994, the company completed the construction of the Fukutake Shoten Tokyo Building (now Benesse Corporation Tokyo Building) inTama,Tokyo. In April 1995, the company was renamed Benesse Corporation.

A major breakthrough in the company's history was the acquisition of a majority stake inBerlitz Language Schools,which had gone public in 1989. In 2001, Benesse completed the take-over by acquiring 100% ownership of Berlitz and making it a private company once again.

In 2023, Swedish private equity firmEQT ABtogether with Benesse's founding family announced their intention to buy the company and take it private in a deal valued atUS$1.78billion (¥270billion).^[4]On March 3, 2024, it was announced that EFU Investments Ltd. and a fund managed byBPEA EQTcompleted the purchase of a 70.1% stake in Benesse.^[5]

Benesse Foundation

The Benesse House is a 10-room hotel located inside a contemporary art museum, the Benesse Art Site, on the island ofNaoshimain the Seto Inland Sea.^[6]Built in 1992, it was designed in partnership with architectTadao Ando.^[6]It was built by the Benesse Foundation which is funded by the Benesse Corporation.^[6]

Franchises

Benesse is the originator of theKodomo Challengeeducational program,^[7]which debuted in April 1988 and introduced three young-animal mascot characters: Shimajiro the tiger, Torippi the parrot,^{[N 1]}and Ramurin the sheep.^[8]These characters, along with later 1991 addition Mimirin the rabbit,^[8]^{[N 1]}would appear in a long-running series ofShimajiroanimestarting in 1993.^[9]

Notes

^^a ^bNames to the left of the slashes are the original Japanese; those to the right, the English ones used inWildBrain Spark's dub.

References

^^a ^b ^c ^dFact Sheet - Investor Relations
^"Annual Report 2007"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 11 February 2014.Retrieved25 February2017.
^Manson, Bess (2023-03-17)."Hideaki Fukutake - New WOW owner hopes to add festival to the show".Stuff.Retrieved2023-05-06.
^Kamata, Akinori; Oku, Takashi (2023-11-11)."Japan education firm Benesse to go private with Sweden's EQT".Nikkei Asia.
^"EFU Investments Limited and Baring Private Equity Asia Fund VIII managed by BPEA EQT completed the acquisition of 70.21% stake in Benesse Holdings, Inc. from Minamigata Holdings Ltd".MarketScreener UK.4 March 2024.Retrieved2024-03-20.
^^a ^b ^cWilliams, Ingrid K (26 August 2011)."Japanese Island as Unlikely Arts Installation".The New York Times.Retrieved13 December2016.
^"Benesse's Preschool Education Course Faring Well in China: Pres"(Press release). Jiji Press English News Service. 2008-04-07.Retrieved2022-02-12– viaProQuest.
^^a ^bTakō, Wakako (2020-02-20)."Thông tín giáo dục phát “しまじろう”, "Tử どもと một tự に trưởng thành" するキャラクターが30 năm ái された lý do ".Oricon(in Japanese).Retrieved2022-02-12.
^"BENESSE CORPORATION'S PRESCHOOL HIT SHIMAJIRO WINS MAYOR AWARD".Licensing Magazine(Press release). 2021-09-20.Retrieved2022-02-12.

External links

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[names-8] Names to the left of the slashes are the original Japanese; those to the right, the English ones used inWildBrain Spark's dub.

[factsheet-1] Fact Sheet - Investor Relations

[2] "Annual Report 2007"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 11 February 2014.Retrieved25 February2017.

[3] Manson, Bess (2023-03-17)."Hideaki Fukutake - New WOW owner hopes to add festival to the show".Stuff.Retrieved2023-05-06.

[4] Kamata, Akinori; Oku, Takashi (2023-11-11)."Japan education firm Benesse to go private with Sweden's EQT".Nikkei Asia.

[5] "EFU Investments Limited and Baring Private Equity Asia Fund VIII managed by BPEA EQT completed the acquisition of 70.21% stake in Benesse Holdings, Inc. from Minamigata Holdings Ltd".MarketScreener UK.4 March 2024.Retrieved2024-03-20.

[NYTimesJapaIsland-6] Williams, Ingrid K (26 August 2011)."Japanese Island as Unlikely Arts Installation".The New York Times.Retrieved13 December2016.

[7] "Benesse's Preschool Education Course Faring Well in China: Pres"(Press release). Jiji Press English News Service. 2008-04-07.Retrieved2022-02-12– viaProQuest.

[Oricon-9] Takō, Wakako (2020-02-20)."Thông tín giáo dục phát “しまじろう”, "Tử どもと một tự に trưởng thành" するキャラクターが30 năm ái された lý do ".Oricon(in Japanese).Retrieved2022-02-12.

[10] "BENESSE CORPORATION'S PRESCHOOL HIT SHIMAJIRO WINS MAYOR AWARD".Licensing Magazine(Press release). 2021-09-20.Retrieved2022-02-12.

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