Kanto Natural Gas Development Co. Ltd. (TSE:1661) (KNG) agreed to acquire the remaining 43.83% stake in Otaki Gas Co., Ltd. (TSE:9541) from Chibagin Capital Co., Ltd., The Chiba Kogyo Bank, Ltd., The Keiyo Bank, Ltd. and other shareholders for ¥4.3 billion in stock on August 8, 2013. K&O Energy Group Inc. will be established as a joint holding company to own all the shares in KNG and Otaki. 0.5 share of common stock of the joint holding company will be allotted for each share of common stock of KNG and 0.4 share of common stock of the joint holding company will be allotted for each share of common stock of Otaki upon the share transfer. KNG and Otaki plan to apply to have the shares allocated to shareholders of KNG and Otaki due to the share transfer listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and if such application is approved, it will be possible to trade the joint holding company's shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Both KNG and Otaki will be delisted from Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 26, 2013. The deal is subject to approval at the respective extraordinary shareholders' meetings of Otaki and Kanto Natural Gas to be held on October 23, 2013 and on October 24, 2013. As of October 24, 2013, the shareholders of Otaki approved the transaction. The transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors of KNG and Otaki. The deal will be effective on January 6, 2014. Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. and Deloitte Tohmatsu Financial Advisory Co., Ltd acted as valuers to KNG and Otaki respectively. Yanagida & Partners acted as legal advisor for Kanto Natural Gas and Anderson Mori and Tomotsune acted as legal advisor for Otaki Gas.