Roundtable Discussion among Members of Growth Investment Management Departments | Integrated Report 2026

Under Mid-Term Management Strategy GC2027, the Marubeni Group aims to further accelerate growth through strategic capital allocation and a growth investment strategy. As an organization to lead this strategy throughout the Company, we have established a Growth Investment Management Department (GIMD) in each business division as a specialized investment team to improve the quality of investments on a Company-wide basis.
This roundtable discussion was held between members of these departments, one each from the Food & Agri Business Division, the Aerospace & Mobility Division, and the Next Generation Business Development Division.
The discussion covers the background of the establishment of the GIMDs, differences between the activities in each division, changes and challenges that have arisen over the past year, and the outlook for the future.

A Dedicated, Frontline-Focused Organization to Improve the Quality of Growth Investments

Noborisaka: Previously, I spent over 10 years in the former Infrastructure Project Division, where I was involved with M&As and business investments. I currently work in the Aerospace & Mobility Division, where teams have varying levels of investment experience, creating a need to strengthen the division’s overall investment capabilities. The knowledge and expertise required by the Company for investment professionals are universally applicable across different products and industries. I understand the important role GIMDs play in sharing investment expertise across business divisions and enhancing the quality of investment opportunities.

Ito: I have experience in new investment sourcing and execution on the business frontlines in the Food Merchandising Department.
I now apply the knowledge and experience I gained there to my current activities.

Ogata: I have been involved with the Next Generation Business Development Division since its establishment in FY2019. Prior to that, I gained experience in business development in a wide range of domains, including power, energy, and corporate planning.
In our division as well, a specialized investment team is essential to improving the probability of success as we develop new business domains. By establishing a GIMD in each division, investment expertise can be shared closer to the frontlines, and I feel this contributes significantly to improving the overall quality of investments throughout the Company.

Ito: Next, I’d like to talk about our specific roles. The primary role of the GIMD is to work alongside the business divisions on investment and divestment projects that they lead. In the Food & Agri Business Division, for example, in FY2025 the GIMD supported the divestment of Rangers Valley, an Australian beef cattle feedlot business, and helped execute the recovery of our investment. However, our mission goes beyond simply accompanying projects led by the business divisions. A major part of our role is to formulate and propose a domain-selection strategy—namely, which areas within our broad business portfolio we should prioritize for new investments, and from which areas we should instead exit. Based on this strategy, we identify new investment opportunities and design potential divestment projects, and we see it as an important responsibility to work in close partnership with the business divisions to move these initiatives forward.

Daisuke ItoHead of Growth Investment Management Department,
Food & Agri Business Division

Noborisaka: The Value Creation Office (VCO) is primarily responsible for enhancing the value of businesses. For certain investments, the VCO becomes involved from the initial stages.
However, whereas the VCO focuses mainly on enhancing PMI capabilities and increasing business value, the GIMD plays a more frontline role, covering the process from sourcing and developing new investment opportunities to negotiating with counterparties and obtaining internal approval.

Ogata: While responsible for frontline investment execution, the GIMD also looks at each project from a management-level perspective, identifies and organizes the key issues, and helps each division establish a standardized investment approach grounded in investment discipline. I think that actively promoting new investments while maintaining strict discipline is an extremely important function that we provide. Moreover, to enhance the value of existing businesses, we highlight the VCO’s DX and PMI functions from the sourcing stage and execute investments through close collaboration.

Developing Investments from the Same Perspective as Business Divisions and Promoting a Standardized Investment Approach

Ito: How we work with the business divisions varies significantly depending on the characteristics of the division and its previous investment experience. In the Food & Agri Business Division, many departments have relatively limited investment experience.
As a result, the GIMD often takes a leading role by generating ideas and driving projects from strategy formulation through execution.

Yoichi NoborisakaHead of Growth Investment Management Department,
Aerospace & Mobility Division

Noborisaka: The Aerospace & Mobility Division could be considered a hybrid case. For teams with a lot of investment experience and well-defined domains, we work alongside them by building financial models, preparing contracts, and supporting negotiations with counterparties. One example of this type of support is making the U.S. company DASI, LLC, a leading distributor of aviation aftermarket parts, into a wholly owned subsidiary through the acquisition of additional equity interest. On the other hand, for teams with limited experience, we take the same approach as Mr. Ito’s division does, getting more deeply involved from the domain selection stage, with the GIMD playing a central role in driving the deal forward.

Ogata: In the Next Generation Business Development Division as well, we guide teams with limited investment experience through the basics of business planning and due diligence, while leading them in developing investment projects. In practice, our level of involvement and the depth of support we provide is driven more by each team’s investment experience than by differences in products handled or business timeframes.

Noborisaka: It has been a year since the GIMDs were established and I can feel the positive impact. Initially, some business divisions tended to see us as a kind of watchdog. However, by engaging directly with the frontlines, doing the hands-on work, and leading negotiations, we gradually changed that perception, and they have come to realize the benefits of involving the GIMD. Today, the GIMD receives information on investment opportunities at the same level and timing as the business divisions, and we are seeing clear results, with GIMD-led deals now reaching the approval stage.
At the same time, we still have some way to go in improving existing businesses, a process that includes working through the details of operations and executing divestments. I believe we need to enhance our efforts in both areas going forward.

Ito: I have seen similar changes in my division. When we presented a strategy for domain selection in the first half of last year, there was some resistance and confusion on the frontlines, but after a year of steady engagement, we have reached the point where the business divisions now proactively consult with us on strategy.
By taking the time to build relationships, I feel that our status has changed and that we have won the trust of the frontline departments.

Ogata: In my division, new investment projects are emerging through close collaboration between GIMD members and the business division. This collaboration is producing tangible results, including the acquisition of TOLUS Group AG, a machine tool distributor operating in Switzerland and Austria, as a wholly owned subsidiary. At the division level, a standardized way of structuring deals—one that reflects investment discipline and addresses the key considerations—is becoming firmly embedded.

Combining Offense and Defense for Repeatable Growth Investments

Ogata: One challenge we constantly face is finding the right balance between “offense” and “defense.” Management places a strong emphasis on the defensive side based on the maintenance of rigorous investment discipline. On the other hand, if the bar is set too high, people may hesitate to bring us new investment opportunities.
However, the dilemma is that if we lean too far toward the business divisions, investment discipline can weaken. I therefore pay careful attention to maintaining the right balance.

Noborisaka: If you hit the brakes too much, people will stop coming to you for advice. It is important to apply the brakes constructively—for example, by saying, “This will not be approved as it stands, but it can be approved if we approach it this way”—while guiding the deal in the right direction. The step of building trust so that people feel glad having consulted with the GIMD was the most challenging part.

Ito: From a talent development perspective, it is also important to strike the right balance between the number of opportunities people are given and their success rate. Increasing the success rate is important, of course, but to build experience, it is essential to secure a sufficient number of opportunities to work on many high-quality deals. Practical know-how—such as how to set the scope for due diligence or how and when to engage advisors—cannot be fully learned through books, and can only be gained through hands-on experience. Working on a wide range of investment deals—including those we ultimately decide not to pursue—is essential for developing sound judgment through practical experience. Therefore, how best to achieve that balance is one of our key challenges. In addition, the ability to clearly articulate and quantify the appeal of an investment target when presenting it internally is an essential part of investment literacy that we must firmly instill.
Over the medium-term, our primary mission is to continuously add new investments to the Company’s Strategic Platform Businesses in line with our policy, and to contribute to their expansion and enhancement. I would like to develop strategies aimed at creating new platforms in business domains that are not currently defined as Strategic Platform Businesses, and build up a portfolio of investments one project at a time.

Noborisaka: I completely agree. I would like to develop sound investment strategies within each business division’s domain, source deals that align with those strategies, and deliver results.
By repeating this process, we will create a framework for reliably executing appropriate investments, enabling us to focus on creating Strategic Platform Businesses. Through this implementation process, both the GIMD and business divisions will gain experience, and I am confident that this will result in the development of the next generation of investment professionals. In addition, I think it is important to rotate personnel between the GIMD and the business divisions so that employees can bring the knowledge and expertise gained at GIMD back to their own teams.

Ogata: The Next Generation Business Development Division is a relatively new organization, and we are seeing an increase in the diversity of the talent pool. We must further enhance our own expertise so that GIMD can function as a platform for advancing the investment process. We will also establish systems that enable even teams and individuals with limited investment experience to execute investments by leveraging GIMD’s capabilities. By supporting growth investments and talent development in a systematic, institutionalized manner, we will contribute to the sustainable increase in corporate value for the entire Marubeni Group.