is a Japanese multinational ''

keiretsu A is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. In the legal sense, it is a type of informal business group that are loosely organized alliances within the social world of Japan's business community. The ''ke ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

which owns

Hankyu Corporation , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Gro ...

, the Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., Toho Co., Ltd., and affiliate companies. On October 1, 2006, Hankyu Holdings changed its name to the present corporate name following the merger with

Hanshin Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway company of Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group that links Osaka and Kobe. It also owns the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. The first character for Kobe (神戸) and the second character for Osaka (大阪) combine to form the c ...

. On the same day Hankyu Corporation Group was renamed Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Group, and the Hankyu Toho Group renamed

Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group (before 2006 known as the ) is a Japanese keiretsu (association of businesses) centered on companies established by railway tycoon Ichizō Kobayashi: Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, H2O Retailing and Toho. The keiretsu historically included Sanwa Bank ...

. The operations of the company are centered on transportation, retailing, real estate, entertainment and media. The transportation segment is the company's main cashflow generating business and comprises the railway companies

(acquired in 2006) and

Hankyu Railway , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group ...

. It also includes the smaller railway lines of

Hokushin Kyūkō Electric Railway The is a line of Kobe Municipal Subway connecting Tanigami in Kita-ku, Kobe and Shin-Kobe in Chūō-ku, Kobe. The line has only these two stations. Formerly operated by the third-sector Hokushin Kyuko Railway (a subsidiary of Hankyu railway ...

and

Nose Electric Railway The , occasionally abbreviated as Nose Railway or , is a Japanese private railway company headquartered in Kawanishi, Hyogo, which links several areas in the mountainous Nose, Osaka, area to Kawanishi-noseguchi Station in Kawanishi, where one can ...

, as well as equity stakes in

Kita-Osaka Kyūkō Railway is a railway operator in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Its sole line, officially named the , operates as an extension of the Midōsuji Line of the Osaka Metro. The , established on 11 December 1967, is majorly owned by Hankyu. ''Kitakyu'', as it is ...

Sanyo Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway operating company based in western Hyōgo Prefecture. It runs local and express rail service between Himeji and Kobe, and also connects directly with Hanshin Main Line to Osaka. Although the Hanshin Electric Rai ...

Osaka Monorail The is a monorail system in northern Osaka Prefecture, Japan, operated by . At long, it is the second longest monorail system in the world after the Chongqing Monorail and the longest monorail system in Japan. It links the three campuses of ...

and

Kobe Electric Railway , often called , is a Japanese private railway A private railway is a railroad run by a private business entity (usually a corporation but not need be), as opposed to a railroad run by a public sector. Japan In Japan, , commonly simply ''priva ...

. The company also owns various taxi and bus franchises. Hankyu and Hanshin also both had air cargo and express freight subsidiaries, which were combined in the Hankyu Hanshin Express Holdings company. The retailing business is mainly concentrated in the company's large shareholding of H₂O Retailing, the company formed via the merger of the Hankyu and Hanshin Department Store companies. The company owns and operates many hotels, and is developing real estate projects mainly on land along its railway lines through its subsidiary Hankyu Realty, which was previously separately listed, but fully acquired through a stock swap in 2002. It has spun off some of its vast real estate holdings (such as the

HEP Five HEP is a major shopping mall and entertainment center in the Umeda commercial district of Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is a shopping mall consisting of a HEP Five and HEP Navio. HEP stands for "Hankyu Entertainment Park". The building is operated ...

building) into a

REIT A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping ce ...

company, Hankyu Hanshin Properties. The group has a controlling stake in

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

, which next to its many media interests (movie development and distribution, as well as a large stake in

Fuji Media Holdings JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

) has also large real estate interests. Other companies in the entertainment area include the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway ...

and the

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japane ...

, and stakes in

Kansai TV JODX-DTV, virtual channel 8 ( UHF digital channel 17), branded as or , is the Kansai region key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System (FNS), operated by the . Kansai TV is a company affiliated in Hankyu Hanshin Holdin ...

and

FM Osaka is an FM radio station in Osaka, Japan. The station is an affiliate of Japan FM Network (JFN). FM Osaka started broadcasting on April 1, 1970. It was the second commercial FM radio station to launch in Japan after FM Aichi. During its early y ...

, as well as tourism operations (e.g. Hankyu Travel).

Major shareholders

(As of August 2009) In 2006, the activist Fund ''Privee Zurich Turnaround Group'' run by Kenzo Matsumara (which later assumed the name ''Privee Investment Holding'', was then acquired by ''e-Revolution co. Ltd.'' and now renamed ''Privee Fund Group'') took a major stake in Hankyu Holdings, hoping to boost efficiencies in the very diverse holdings of the Hankyu-Toho group.Privee Zurich becomes top shareholder in Japan's Hankyu Holdings, Forbes, September 2006
/ref> However, the takeover of

by Hankyu in the wake of the affair surrounding Fund Manager

Yoshiaki Murakami is a Japanese investor, bull, former bureaucrat of the MITI, co-founder of "Murakami Fund" (Japanese: 村上ファンド), and founder of the Murakami Family Foundation (村上財団). About Murakami founded the “Murakami Fund”, with M& ...

and the establishment by Hankyu management of anti-takeover measures, as well as the

global financial crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

resulted in ''Privee'' reducing its stake in the company in 2008.

Listed companies in which Hankyu Hanshin Holdings directly holds a stake

* ''Kobe Electric Railway'', first section of the Osaka Securities Exchange
9046
27.7% stake * ''Sanyo Electric Railway'', first section of the Osaka Securities Exchang
9052
17.38% stake * ''OS Company, Ltd.'', second section of the Osaka Securities Exchang
9637
22% stake * ''H₂O Retailing'', first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Securities Exchang
8242
21.8% stake * ''Tokyo Rakutenchi Company, Ltd.'', first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchang
8842
17.8% stake * ''Hankyu REIT'', first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchang
8977
4.1% stake * ''Toho Co, Ltd.'', first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Securities Exchange, Fukuoka Stock Exchang
9602
20.15% stake

Sports franchises

Hankyu once owned of a professional baseball team in Japan, known as the Hankyu Braves. In 1988, the team was sold to Orient Leasing Co. (which changed its name to

Orix , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

in 1989) and the team name became the

Orix BlueWave , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

and later the

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...

. The Hankyu Braves were sold by then-president of Hankyu, Kohei Kobayashi, to finance the redevelopment of

Umeda Station is a railway station in Kita-ku in the northern commercial center of Osaka, Japan. It is the busiest station in western Japan, serving 2,343,727 passengers daily in 2005. Umeda Station is served by the following railways: *Hankyu Railway ( K� ...

and

Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Nishinomiya Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the private transportation company Hankyu Railway.It is one of the main stations in Nishinomiya City, with Hanshin Nishino ...

. By acquiring Hanshin Electric Railway, Hankyu-Hanshin Holdings became the owner of the baseball team

References

External links

Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc.
* Wiki collection of bibliographic works on Hankyu Hanshin Holdings {{Authority control Companies based in Osaka Prefecture Companies listed on the Osaka Exchange Holding companies of Japan Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Midori-kai Japanese companies established in 1907 Holding companies established in 1907