HS Holdings

Name

HS Holdings

Legal name

HSホールディングス株式会社

Website

https://hs-hd.co.jp

Company type

Public

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

M&A Advisory and Investment Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Management of Companies and Enterprises (55111)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry-Specialist / Sector-Focused M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Buy-Side M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAB)

Keywords

• M&A brokerage services
• Business succession consulting
• Venture capital investment
• Business turnaround advisory
• Holding company management

Headquarters

HQ city

Shinjuku

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. M&A Brokerage and Advisory Fees: Success-based fees charged upon completion of M&A transactions. The company operates on a pure success fee model with no upfront charges unless in exceptional cases. Fee structure uses a tiered Lehmann formula: 5% for deals up to 500 million yen, 4% for 500 million to 1 billion yen, 3% for 1 billion to 5 billion yen, 2% for 5 billion to 10 billion yen, and 1% for amounts exceeding 10 billion yen. A minimum fee of 3 million yen applies.
2. Investment Returns: Returns generated from direct investments in portfolio companies, including long-term stable shareholder positions in business succession deals, venture investments, and business revitalization investments.
3. Dividend Income from Group Companies: Dividend distributions received from consolidated subsidiaries and equity method affiliates, including banking operations in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

HS Holdings provides M&A brokerage and consulting, business succession consulting, direct business investment, venture investment, and business turnaround consulting services for Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises. Through its holding company structure, the group also operates commercial banking subsidiaries and affiliates in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, as well as a domestic reuse retail business via subsidiary STAYGOLD. M&A transactions range from 5 million yen to 3 billion yen in deal value under a success-based fee model.

Product overview

HS Holdings is a holding company offering a unified portfolio of M&A-related financial services. The core offerings include M&A consulting/brokerage, business succession consulting, business investment, venture investment, and business turnaround consulting services, all provided as integrated solutions under one roof. In addition to financial services, the group operates international banking subsidiaries (Khan Bank in Mongolia, KyrgyzKommertsbank in Kyrgyzstan, and Solid Bank in Russia) and a domestic reuse retail business through subsidiary STAYGOLD. The company's M&A services range from ¥5 million to ¥3 billion in transaction value with a success-based fee structure using the Lehman formula (5% to 1% depending on transaction size).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• STAYGOLD: Reuse purchasing wholesale and retail business operated by subsidiary 株式会社STAYGOLD

Products and services

• M&A Consulting (M&A仲介) End-to-end M&A brokerage service that identifies optimal third-party buyers and supports clients from initial proposal through final contract execution. Targeted at Japanese SME owners seeking business succession, growth, or divestiture outcomes.
• Business Succession Consulting (事業承継コンサルティング)

Quantifiable outcome

• Transaction completion time reduced to approximately 1 month for investment-eligible deals (vs. 3 months to 1 year for pure advisory)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• PRICING DATA (株式会社PRICING DATA)minorOthers · 14 April 2025Company acquired in April 2025 as a subsidiary. Announced alongside STAYGOLD business alliance in March 2025.
• HS Financial Pte.Ltd.coreOthers · 16 December 2024Singapore-based financial services company established in December 2024. Operates as a consolidated subsidiary of the group.
• STAYGOLD (株式会社STAYGOLD)coreOthers · 29 July 2022Japanese company acquired in July 2022. Operates as a consolidated subsidiary. Engages in reuse purchase wholesale and retail business. Located in Shinagawa, Tokyo with capital of 90 million yen.
• OJSC Kyrgyzkommertsbank (キルギスコメルツ銀行)coreOthers · 21 June 2017Kyrgyzstan commercial bank in which HS Holdings acquired shares in June 2017. Operates as a consolidated subsidiary of the group. Provides banking services in the Kyrgyz Republic with capital of 1,200 million KGS.
• JSC Solid Bank (ソリッド銀行)coreOthers · 7 December 2012Russian bank in which HS Holdings acquired shares in December 2012. Operates as an equity method affiliate. Based in Vladivostok with capital of 1,877 million RUB.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• M&A Capital Partners: Tokyo-based listed M&A advisor focused on Japanese SMEs, competing head-to-head with HS Holdings in the same succession and small-cap deal segments. Closely comparable on customer profile, ticket size, and success-fee economics.
• Nihon M&A Center: Japan's largest dedicated SME M&A intermediary and the most direct comparable to HS Holdings' M&A Consulting business. Operates a similar succession-focused, mid-market deal model but at materially larger scale and with a heavier emphasis on pure advisory rather than direct investment.
• M&A Research Institute: Tech-enabled Japanese M&A advisory firm that has rapidly scaled SME succession deal flow. Competes with HS Holdings on speed, deal sourcing, and small/mid-ticket transactions.
• Strike: Japanese listed M&A intermediary (formerly Strike Co.) specializing in SME business succession transactions. Direct competitor in the same deal-size range and customer segment HS Holdings targets.
• M&A Total Solutions: Japanese M&A advisory firm serving SMEs and mid-market companies, including in business succession. Comparable in target customer and transaction profile.

Broad incumbents

• Nomura Holdings: Japan's largest investment bank and securities firm, historically the home of HS Holdings' predecessor Kyoritsu Securities. Comparable as the dominant Japanese capital-markets incumbent that HS Holdings originated from and partially competes with in M&A advisory.
• Aozora Bank: Japanese commercial bank with established SME and M&A-related advisory capabilities. Comparable as a Japan-based financial institution that intermediates SME capital and succession transactions, though at much larger scale.
• Houlihan Lokey: Global investment bank with a large M&A advisory franchise. While focused on larger mid-market and upper-mid deals, it represents the broader incumbent advisory landscape against which HS Holdings positions itself for smaller Japanese transactions.

Regional players

• J Trust Co., Ltd. Japan/Asia financial services holding company that acquired H.S. Securities (now J Trust Global Securities) from the Sawada/HS group. Closely comparable as a regional financial holding company with banking and securities exposure across Asia.

Others

• Recruit Holdings: Large Japanese information services and HR company whose matching platforms serve SME hiring and business matching needs. Tangentially comparable given its role in facilitating SME-to-SME and SME-to-talent connections relevant to succession transactions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments4 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HS Holdings