Quants Research Institute Holdings, Inc. (9552) Stock Price

M&A Soken Holdings is a business centered on M&A advisory services, complemented by consulting services covering strategy, IT, and digital transformation (DX), as well as other operations including asset management consulting and operating leases. In M&A advisory, the company provides hybrid services that combine technology such as AI with advisors' practical expertise.

The company's primary clients are small and mid-sized enterprises seeking to divest their businesses and companies considering acquisitions. Advisory fees (success-based commissions) are the company's main revenue source. The company employs a pure success-fee model, where it does not charge upfront or interim fees from sellers in principle, while generating interim fees from buyers at stages such as letter of intent and basic agreement.

Business segments are divided into three categories: M&A advisory, consulting, and other operations. M&A advisory streamlines the process from sourcing to closing through proprietary systems and AI-powered matching. Consulting provides services including execution support and talent development in DX/IT, business strategy, and post-merger integration (PMI). Other operations include asset management support and leasing business.

The company operates under the vision of "Creating the Future M&A Market through M&A Tech." It aims to promote business succession for small and medium-sized enterprises by accelerating deal completion speed and reducing intermediary fees, thereby expanding revenue and operating profit. The market environment shows a persistently high rate of businesses lacking successors at 50.1% as of 2025, and there is a government and private sector policy targeting 60,000 M&A transactions annually by 2029. The company plans rapid growth by improving key metrics including number of mandates received, deal value per transaction, deal completion rate, and number of M&A advisors. As a recent achievement, the company has reduced average deal completion time to 7.2 months, and aims to accelerate growth further from this foundation.

Priority investment areas are proprietary systems and AI-powered matching technology. The company actively invests in artificial intelligence and digital transformation of business operations. Buyer candidate identification is performed by algorithms trained on historical M&A cases and proprietary databases, improving matching accuracy and reducing inefficient sales activities. The company differentiates itself by building core business systems from the ground up, having implemented over 12,000 modifications to date. Additionally, it adopts a pure success-fee model that does not charge upfront fees from sellers, lowering barriers to engagement and increasing the number of mandates received.

Market development and business expansion are pursued primarily through talent acquisition and training. Specific initiatives include strengthening partnerships with existing recruitment firms, implementing PDCA cycles for direct recruiting, enhancing new graduate hiring, and improving recruitment marketing. The company has established a system enabling rapid deployment of inexperienced staff through AI utilization. It is also expanding corporate sales divisions to increase matching opportunities, and plans to build a revenue base aligned with customer lifecycles by expanding services beyond M&A brokerage to include digital transformation, post-merger integration support, asset management, and leasing. For large-scale investments, debt and equity financing are considered as funding options.

Technology innovation emphasizes continuous, in-house development with ongoing investment in improving AI matching accuracy and enhancing core systems. By advancing database development and internal system improvements, the company builds competitive barriers difficult for rivals to replicate. Given the sensitive nature of information handled, it strengthens information management systems and conducts operational checks through internal audits. Performance monitoring uses objective metrics including revenue, operating profit, number of completed deals, average fees per transaction, and number of M&A advisors. The company aims to enhance enterprise value by pursuing technology investment and talent development as dual pillars.