Seven Questions for President Masahiro Sugino M&A Strategy Kitchen Industry Share Market Share of Aluminum Housing  Sashes and Doors for Wooden Houses JS Group Corporation Annual Report 2010 17 Tostem 37.0% Total 50.0% Sankyo Tateyama Aluminium 18.8% Fuji Sash 0.6% Shin Nikkei 13.0% YKK AP 30.6% Note: Share of aluminum sashes and doors for wooden homes Source: “2008 Main Products and Services Share Survey,” Nikkei Inc. JS Group 28% Source: Yano Research Institute Ltd. 2008 Survey In Japan, aside from M&A activity, we announced an agreement with Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (AGC) to  engage in a joint business endeavor. Going forward, we will actively pursue deals that we believe will  effectively advance our objectives, including alliances such as the one with AGC. It is essential that we  utilize M&A activity overseas to increase our overseas sales ratio in the three-year period from the year  ending March 31, 2011. Sun Wave has been added to the Plumbing Fixtures Business. In July 2010, subsidiary Inax  Sunwave Marketing Corporation (ISM), which combines the sales and marketing divisions of Inax  and Sun Wave, will commence operations. Through efficient and carefully targeted sales efforts, ISM  will cultivate the housing stock market, comprising the home renovation and replacement markets  which are expected to grow over the long-term horizon. The American Standard, which is involved in  the sanitary wares business overseas, will be a foundation upon which we will look to expand sales  of other sanitary fixtures, including Inax products. In the year ending March 31, 2011, we will start  by spending on marketing to strengthen the brand strategy. Shin Nikkei, which is now part of our Metal Building Material Business segment, excels at  making proposals to prefabricated home builders, and has a strong sales network in the low- to  medium-sized building market. Tostem, our existing mainstay brand, is somewhat weak in these  areas, so we will look to build a complementary relationship between the two entities. Moreover, by  sharing Tostem’s knowhow in the sash business, which is already a highly profitable business within  the Group, we will reduce costs even further. Increased production volume should also yield greater  cost efficiency. n April 2010, both Shin Nikkei and Sun Wave became consolidated subsidiaries, which has  enabled us to capture an overwhelming share of the Japanese market for both aluminum  building materials and kitchen systems. To maximize economies of scale, we will quickly work to  reduce costs by unifying product standards and conducting joint purchasing of materials. This  should contribute to an increase in overall Group profitability. I A4: We were looking to build our distribution network overseas, while in Japan our M&A moves were  made with the aim of maximizing economies of scale by increasing operating efficiency and expanding our market share. Q4: What were the objectives of your M&A strategy in the year ended March 31, 2010 and what impact did the mergers have?