■Serendip Holdings' <7318> medium-term management plan

1. Environment regarding business succession

In Japan, the manufacturing industry is mainly composed of small and medium-sized enterprises, which not only support the supply chain but also create a large number of employment opportunities. However, it has become a social problem that business continuity becomes difficult due to the aging of owner-managers and the lack of successors, despite having high technological and product capabilities, and there has been an increase in cases leading to closure since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, many small and medium-sized enterprises still face challenges such as the lack of a sufficient management system to cope with the complexity and sophistication of modern management, the inability to secure sufficient management resources due to the declining and aging workforce, and low productivity and weak earning power. On the other hand, many small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan have high technological and product capabilities, so it is possible to significantly improve corporate value by improving the quality of management through initiatives such as digital transformation (DX) and labor-saving in the manufacturing site, and nurturing management personnel. However, the current situation is that the support system, such as business succession support from these small and medium-sized enterprises, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and total solutions, has not kept up with the needs.

(Author: FISCO guest analyst Nobumitsu Miyata)