Profile of Impress Holdings

Company background

Impress Holdings Inc. is a Japanese media group which operates print and digital media businesses covering a wide range of segments including technology, music, design and medicine.

Impress was founded in April 1992 by the companys current chairman, Keiichiro Tsukamoto who still owns over 55% of outstanding shares. All other shareholders own less than 3% of the company.

Impress was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker: 9479) in October, 2000 and the company has current market capitalisation of approximately US$45 million. Revenues were US$177 million in the financial year ending 31st March 2007. The parent company, Impress Holdings has just over 70 employees, but including all of its subsidiaries the total number of staff is 670.

Since its founding, the companys core focus has been on technology. Seven of its subsidiaries are involved IT-related businesses including technology industry news, enterprise systems and digital media. Impress technology titles tend to be either B2B trade titles or focused on the ""prosumer"" segment in Japan.

Beyond the technology and IT titles, the company does operate subsidiaries that tap into a number of other speciality markets including music publishing (Rittor Music), medical journals (Medical Tribune), e-publishing and web design (MdN Corporation, Creators Guild) and outdoor recreation (Yama-Kei Publishers).

In the past five years, Impress growth strategy has shifted to emphasise acquisitions and the China market. Since 2004, Impress has acquired Kindai Kagaku Sha, ThinkIT Corporation, Editorial Engineering Laboratory, Medical Tribune and Yama-Kei as well as minority stakes in the Brain Group and Chinabyte.com.