Umios and Wah Kong Complete Strategic Pet Food Joint Venture in Southeast Asia; Japan Corporate Advisory Institute Advised on the Transaction

JPY 11.4 billion investment establishes strategic partnership around Pet World International and accelerates Umios’s Asia strategy

Umios Corporation (TOKYO Prime: 1333; formerly Maruha Nichiro) and Wah Kong Corporation have completed the establishment of a strategic joint venture centered on Pet World International Sdn. Bhd. (“PWI”), one of Malaysia’s leading pet food companies.

Under the transaction, Umios invested approximately JPY 11.4 billion to acquire a 51% interest in PWI through a newly established holding company.

PWI holds the No. 2 share of Malaysia’s pet food market — No. 1 among local companies (NielsenIQ) — and operates the country’s only BRC-certified pet food plant. The company has approximately 350 employees, sells through more than 10,000 physical stores and its own e-commerce channels, and posted consolidated sales of approximately JPY 12.4 billion in the year ended September 2025.

The joint venture combines Umios’s strengths in wet pet food with PWI’s dry-food capabilities, creating comprehensive coverage across dogs and cats, wet and dry. The partnership is expected to integrate the parties’ sales networks, product portfolios, manufacturing capabilities and R&D expertise to accelerate growth across Asia. Umios targets pet food operating profit of approximately JPY 10 billion and ROIC of approximately 18% by the year ending March 2028.

“We have built PWI over many years into one of Malaysia’s leading pet food businesses, and our priority was to find a partner that could help take the company into its next stage of growth while sharing our long-term vision for the business,” said Choy Peng Yew, shareholder and CEO of PWI. “Umios brings extensive capabilities in pet food, product development and international markets that are highly complementary to PWI’s strengths. By combining these capabilities, we believe we can accelerate PWI’s growth beyond Malaysia and build PWI into a leading pet food platform across Asia and beyond.”

“PWI brings outstanding brand and manufacturing strength in Malaysia and is the ideal partner to accelerate our pet food strategy across Asia,” said Kimihiro Takaya, Managing Executive Officer, Division Director of Overseas Business Strategy Division and Unit Director of Fine Chemicals Unit at Umios. “JCAI bridged the two sides with deep insight and experience across Southeast Asia, helping build the trust behind this partnership.”

Japan Corporate Advisory Institute, Ltd. (“JCAI”), a Tokyo-headquartered cross-border M&A advisory firm focused on Japan, Southeast Asia and India, acted as financial advisor on the transaction, advising on transaction strategy, valuation, negotiations and documentation through closing.

“Successful cross-border transactions are ultimately about aligning strategy, value and trust,” said Olimjon Sadinov, Managing Partner at JCAI. “Umios and PWI bring complementary capabilities and a shared ambition to create a leading pet food platform across Asia. JCAI is proud to have helped turn that strategic ambition into a partnership.”

About JCAI

Japan Corporate Advisory Institute, Ltd. (“JCAI”) is a cross-border M&A advisory firm focused on transactions across the Japan–Southeast Asia–India corridor. Headquartered in Tokyo, JCAI advises business owners, corporates and investors on strategic M&A across APAC.

JCAI also operates “SPEED M&A” in Japan and “BizBank” in ASEAN — one of Japan’s largest M&A networks, with more than 20,000 members.

Head Office: Holland Hills Mori Tower 13F, 5-11-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative Director: Takahiro Jono
Website: https://jcai.co.jp/
LinkedIn: https://jp.linkedin.com/company/jcai-ltd

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