Tokyo, May 12, 2026, 20:03 JST
Digital Garage is looking at a potential 30 billion yen gain on a consolidated basis, tied to EQT’s planned take-private deal for Kakaku.com—assuming that closes within the year ending March 2027. The Tokyo-based internet and payments firm could also log around 40 billion yen in special profit at the parent level, just days ahead of its earnings release.
Not much room for error on the schedule. Digital Garage will report its full-year earnings on May 14. Shares finished Tuesday in Tokyo at 2,683 yen, up 92 yen, or 3.55%, at the 15:30 close.
Digital Garage isn’t planning to tender its Kakaku.com shares straight into the offer, according to the agreement. Following the tender offer and subsequent transactions, both Digital Garage and KDDI will sell their shares back to Kakaku.com in a buyback. EQT said Digital Garage will then reinvest, targeting about a 20% stake in the tender-offer group.
EQT has put 3,000 yen per share on the table for Kakaku.com, according to Reuters, pegging the Japanese classifieds and marketplace company at a 593.51 billion yen price tag—$3.76 billion. Kakaku.com is behind its namesake price-comparison service, the restaurant review site Tabelog, and job board Kyujin Box. The board, along with a special committee, gave the green light and is urging shareholders to accept the tender.
Tetsuro Onitsuka, partner at EQT’s Private Capital Asia unit, called Kakaku.com’s offerings “trusted services” and described them as “deeply embedded in everyday life in Japan.” That’s EQT’s angle: they’re not looking for a fast breakup, but see a platform play as AI gets further woven into consumer markets. EQT Group
The agreement follows an IFIS note, picked up by Yahoo Japan, reporting that a major European brokerage rated Digital Garage “outperform” and tagged it with a 3,900 yen price target. According to that same piece, the consensus analyst rating was 4.67 as of May 8, with three analysts collectively aiming for a 3,723 yen target. Yahoo!ファイナンス
The earnings story wasn’t entirely straightforward. According to a separate IFIS/Yahoo update, analysts trimmed their fiscal 2026 ordinary profit forecast for Digital Garage by 1.9%, cutting it to 6.684 billion yen from the previous 6.812 billion yen. Still, the consensus on the stock’s rating nudged higher, moving up to 4.8 from 4.7.
Digital Garage’s third-quarter results signaled a turnaround. For the nine months ended December, revenue climbed 17.1% to 32.284 billion yen. Profit before tax landed at 4.559 billion yen—marking a reversal from the 7.592 billion yen loss in the same stretch last year. Profit attributable to owners reached 3.883 billion yen.
Back in February, Chief Executive Kaoru Hayashi described a shift: no longer just “simply processing payments,” but instead “redesigning industries starting from payments.” Hayashi pointed to KDDI-linked projects as examples, saying they prioritize stability and quality over chasing quick sales or profits. Digital Garage IR
Deal risk hasn’t disappeared. Bloomberg flagged that a LINE Yahoo-Bain Capital consortium matched the take-private offer price, and Reuters Japan reported Digital Garage and KDDI plan to skip the tender, opting to sell shares later via the buyback. A change in the bidder lineup, offer price, or schedule might affect how much of the anticipated gain is actually realized.
Investors are juggling two distinct issues. First, the Kakaku.com deal could bolster the balance sheet and push up reported profit over the next year. But the real test comes May 14, when results will reveal if Digital Garage’s payments and fintech strategy is enough to support the stock, minus any one-off gains.
