TOKYO — Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (YRC) has sold its headquarters building in central Tokyo and is preparing to shift headquarters functions to its factory in Hiratsuka, in Kanagawa Prefecture, about 35 miles southwest of Tokyo.
Moving the headquarters to Hiratsuka will allow Yokohama to "facilitate speedier decision-making" by bringing together management, planning, production, sales, research and development and logistics staff, enabling the company to "respond more flexibly to a dynamically changing operating environment."
YRC also said the move will achieve more efficient use of management resources and secure financial flexibility.
The firm said it plans to use the proceeds of this sale — as well as the recent sale of its Hamatite sealing and adhesive materials business — to support "aggressive investment in strategic domains."
Terms of the sale were not disclosed, and YRC did not say how soon it vacate the Tokyo quarters nor how many employees will be affected.
Yokohama disclosed April 28 that it had agreed to sell the Hamatite business to Swiss-based chemicals specialist Sika Group. The transaction, for which no financial details were disclosed, should close Nov. 1.
Operated by Yokohama Industrial Products, Hamatite generates annual sales of about $185 million, operating plants in Japan, China, Thailand and the U.S.
