Notice Regarding Sale (Block Trade Method) of Macromill Shares Held by Dentsu Group Inc.

Dentsu Group Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004; President & CEO: Toshihiro Yamamoto; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 74,609.81 million yen; hereinafter referred to as “the Company”) announced today the sale of shares held in Macromill, Inc. (Director, Representative Executive Officer and Global CEO: Toru Sasaki; Head Office: Tokyo; hereinafter referred to as “Macromill”) by the block trade method (hereinafter referred to as “this sale”). The details are as follows.

1. Purpose of the sale of shares
In 2012, the Company (then Dentsu Inc.) established a joint venture with Macromill (currently Dentsu Macromill Insight) as an in-house marketing research company of the Dentsu Group, and, after acquiring equity in Macromill at its initial public offering, strengthened the cooperative relationship between the two companies.
In August 2020 the Dentsu Group announced a comprehensive review of the Group with four objectives. To simplify the business; permanently lower operating expenses; improve balance sheet efficiency and improve long term shareholder value. Since then, the Company has implemented a number of initiatives including the sale of non-trading assets.
Additionally, in line with the Company’s corporate governance commitments and the increasing social demand for a reduction in the number of strategically held shares, the Company has been constantly reviewing these shareholdings and is actively working to reduce them.
Following the review of the Macromill shares held by the Company from these perspectives and after discussions held between the two companies, it was determined that the relationship between the two companies remains cooperative and stable. The two Groups strongly believe it is possible to maintain a close and cooperative relationship in the future regardless of whether the Company holds Macromill shares. The Company has therefore decided to sell its shares in Macromill. The Group will continue to review all non-trading assets including cross-shareholdings to improve long term shareholder value.

2. Details of the sale of shares

*Ratio of the number of shares owned to the total number of shares issued by Macromill (excluding treasury stock)

3. Impact on business performance
The impact of this sale on the Company’s business results in FY2021 is expected to be a loss on sales of investment securities of approximately 660 million yen in the non-consolidated financial statements. Since the consolidated financial statements comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), there will be no impact on the consolidated profit and loss statement and this sale will be accounted for as “Other comprehensive income.”

4. The Dentsu Group’s relationship with Macromill
This sale does not affect the Group’s collaboration or business relationship with Macromill. Through Dentsu Macromill Insight and other businesses, the Group will continue to maintain a good cooperative relationship with Macromill.

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