SOURCE: Johnson Health Tech
Company signed SPA to purchase 60 percent share of maker of Fujiiryoki Massage Chairs for 6.24B Japanese Yen
COTTAGE GROVE, Wis. (February 11, 2020) — Johnson Health Tech (JHT) today announced that its Board of Directors agreed to purchase a 60 percent ownership share of Fuji Medical Instruments Mfg. Co., Ltd., the owner of the Fujiiryoki brand massage chairs, for 6.24 billion Japanese Yen (approximately $57.72M US), with the transaction to be complete in February, 2020. With this acquisition, two leaders in the fitness and wellness space will consolidate to expand the global reach of Fujiiryoki, a leading brand in the massage chair market.
Fuji Medical invented the massage chair in Japan in 1954, and today Fujiiryoki is Japan’s largest massage chair brand.
“Fujiiryoki is known for its sophisticated product development process and outstanding brand reputation, but it has little distribution outside of Asia,” said Jason Lo, CEO of Johnson Health Tech Co., Ltd. “We believe that when we combine its powerful brand and products with Johnson’s global distribution and market expertise that great synergies will arise for both our wellness and fitness divisions.”
JHT, already one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors in the global fitness industry, foresees much potential in the massage chair market.
“The massage chair market is about $5.1 B globally, and Asian countries, including China, Japan and Korea, are currently the largest market,” said Alex Wu, CEO of the Johnson Wellness Division. “But the exciting thing to note is that while the market has grown at 8-10 percent in the last ten years, we are now seeing considerable growth in European and American markets, particularly the US.”
“Our goal is to be the world’s largest provider of total health solutions, and we see a lot of overlap between fitness and wellness, particularly massage chairs,” continued Wu. “We moved our wellness division to Japan in 2016 because it’s widely known to have the most advanced massage technology, and we wanted to be close to that as we immersed ourselves in the industry and developed our product lines. This acquisition is the next step in securing our global leadership position.”
About Johnson Health Tech www.johnsonhealthtech.com
Johnson Health Tech, Inc. (JHT), Taiwan, is among the world’s largest and fastest-growing fitness equipment manufacturers and is home to some of the most respected brands in the fitness industry, including: Matrix, Vision, and Horizon. The company manufactures a wide assortment of fitness equipment for both commercial and residential use, including treadmills, elliptical trainers, exercise bikes and strength training equipment. JHT’s global management headquarters is based in Taichung, Taiwan, with global product development, marketing and engineering based in Cottage Grove, Wis.
JHT’s wellness division, based in Osaka, Japan, was established in 2005 and designs, manufactures and distributes therapeutic massage chairs, massage accessories, and other wellness products under the Synca Wellness and Inner Balance brands across the world, particularly in the US, Canadian and Asian markets.
About Fuji Medical Instruments
Fujiiryoki, a brand of Fuji Medical Instruments MFG Co., Ltd., (called FUJI), invented the world's first massage chair in Osaka, Japan in 1954, and was awarded the Mechanical Engineering Heritage by The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers in recognition of its special contribution and status. Fujiiryoki is currently the massage chair market leader in Japan, with industry-leading product development, strong brand recognition, an extensive Japanese sales network and years of accumulated sales experience. The Nikkei BP “Brand Japan 2019” survey selected FUJI as one of Japan’s top 1,000 consumer brands and ranked the seventh h in the category of Medical & Wellness.
