Tokyo IT services firm, 98% foreign clients, bilingual engineers

What is for sale

This is an IT services business based in Tokyo serving mostly foreign-owned companies, providing network equipment installation, server management, in-house helpdesk support and data centre maintenance. It was founded to serve "small Tokyo offices of global companies" and most of its engineers are bilingual (Japanese and English) foreign nationals. The owner is selling because he is of advanced age, has a chronic illness and has no successor.

Because this is an asset (business) transfer rather than a share sale, the buyer acquires the equipment, stock and goodwill but would need to set up contracts, accounts and any licences in their own name rather than inheriting the existing company.

What is included

• Equipment
• Stock/inventory
• Goodwill and business know-how (営業権)
• Nationwide partner network for on-site service
• Existing client relationships (major overseas telecom and airline companies)
• Staff, who the seller hopes to keep employed

Strengths (as the seller states them)

• 98% of clients are foreign-affiliated companies, including major overseas telecom firms, airlines and maintenance service companies
• Almost all Tokyo-based engineers are bilingual foreign nationals who can work in Japanese and English
• Has a nationwide partner network allowing it to service regional/rural locations despite a small head office team
• Growing track record as a Cisco equipment maintenance contractor, with recent overseas inquiries about AI data centre operations

Wrinkles a careful buyer would ask about

• Business is heavily weighted toward maintenance contracts with few new customers, so buyer should check dependency on existing clients
• Revenue fell from 2019 due to COVID-19 impact on airline clients and is still in recovery, though shifting business mix is said to be nearly complete
• Company is expected to resolve negative net worth (debt exceeding assets) only by the 2026 fiscal year end, so recent financial trends should be checked
• Net asset figures are not disclosed publicly and require membership registration to view
• Buyer needs a solid sales/business development capability to grow the client base; seller says support can be provided for managing foreign staff

Paying for it

If you stay overseas. No Japanese bank will lend to a new company whose director lives abroad. The realistic stack is your own cash plus asking the owner to take part of the price over 2 to 3 years. That one question is in every Deal Pack.

If you move to Japan. On a visa that lets you run a business, Japan Finance Corporation lends up to ¥72M at about 1 to 2 percent for exactly this. Once you have a Japanese company, the government pays two-thirds of due diligence and registered-broker costs, up to about ¥8M (round 16 closes 6 Nov 2026). You start a bank relationship from zero.

What this listing says. The listing notes the company currently has negative net worth (debts exceeding assets) which it expects to resolve by the 2026 fiscal year end, so buyers should check how this affects the deal; no broker fee amount, loan guarantees or payment instalment terms are stated in the text.

Full rundown, with the catches: japandealflow.com/money