MACROASIA Corp. will be buying 30% of Tokyo-based NKS Holding Co. Ltd.’s shares in Japan Airport Service Co. Ltd. (JASCO), the ground handling unit of Japan’s Konoike Transport Co. Ltd. at Narita Airport.
This comes after Konoike Transport and tycoon Lucio C. Tan’s MacroAsia signed a partnership deal in Manila on Tuesday where both parties agreed that the Philippine firm shall acquire 30% stake in JASCO.
JASCO’s parent company is NKS Holding, which is in turn a subsidiary of Konoike Transport.
Konoike Transport Executive Officer Akihiko Furukawa said during a news conference that his company, under the said partnership, shall acquire 20% stake of MacroAsia’s ground handling subsidiary MacroAsia Airport Services Corp. (MASCORP). He added that this transaction amounts to ¥2.344 billion.
As for the 30% of JASCO shares sold by Konoike Transport to MacroAsia, he said the amount is ¥1.825 billion.
“Although it took a long time for this partnership to be concluded, the discussions gave such wonderful results,” the Konoike Transport president said, adding that one of the motivations for the partnership is the lack of manpower due to Japan’s aging population.
He said JASCO is currently operating at the Narita Airport, and there are plans to expand its services to “other airports.”
MASCORP General Manager Emerson S. Bonoan, Jr. said the negotiation with Konoike Transport began in July 2018. “So it’s been one year and four months already since we started meeting with the Konoike group here in Manila and in Japan,” he said.
The other 10 subsidiaries of Konoike Transport are operating at Haneda, Kansai, Fukuoka, Itami, and Kobe airports.
As for the estimated number of jobs to be generated from the partnership, the Konoike Transport said that it is planning to accept around “100 trainees or employees” from MacroAsia “within the fiscal year.”
“We are looking into a five-year training program, so a total of 500 employees will be sent from MacroAsia to Konoike for internship,” the Japanese firm added. — Arjay L. Balinbin
