AI screening example · run on October 30, 2026

Stocks selling cross-shareholdings
to pay shareholders.

Among companies whose cross-shareholdings alone come close to their market cap, which say they will sell them and return the money to shareholders? Katana narrowed the market to 42 companies whose cross-shareholdings are at least 80% of their market cap, and we checked their annual reports and latest disclosures.

Background

More companies are selling cross-shareholdings and returning the money to shareholders.

Cross-shareholdings (strategic shareholdings) are shares a company holds to keep ties with business partners. Because they tie up money that is not used in the business, investors have long pressed companies to cut them.

On October 23, Tokai Senko decided to sell two listed stocks by the end of April 2027 to reduce its cross-shareholdings. It expects a gain of about ¥360 million, well above its ¥100 million net income forecast for this fiscal year. In July it sold out of another stock, booking a ¥110 million gain.

Rules now push sellers along, too. The revised Corporate Governance Code that the Tokyo Stock Exchange published on July 21 raised to a principle the rule that a company asked to sell must not block the sale by hinting at reduced business. Japan's major non-life insurers aim to hold no strategic shares and keep selling, and the three megabanks keep cutting theirs. Asset managers have changed their voting guidelines so that merely relabeling holdings as pure investments no longer counts as a cut.

Some companies are returning the proceeds to shareholders. In May, TBS Holdings raised its plan to sell investment securities to at least ¥135 billion, to fund growth investment and shareholder returns. The same day, it approved a share buyback of up to ¥36 billion.

Hypothesis

If cross-shareholdings rival the market cap, doesn't the use of the proceeds decide how much comes back to shareholders?

A company whose cross-shareholdings are close to its market cap can raise money close to its whole market value just by selling them.

Whether that money goes into the business or back to shareholders through dividends and buybacks is the company's choice. The more clearly a company says it will return the proceeds, not just that it will sell, the more directly each sale reaches shareholders.

So we used Katana to find companies whose holdings are at least 80% of their market cap and that state both a policy to sell and a policy to return the proceeds to shareholders.

01 / Input

The companies we wanted to find.

“Among companies whose cross-shareholdings alone come close to (or exceed) their market cap, which ones are willing to sell them and say they will return the money to shareholders?”

Claude built and ran the screen through Katana's MCP connection. We kept companies whose cross-shareholdings are at least 80% of their market cap, turned the policy to sell and the use of the proceeds into two questions entered in English, and had the AI read each annual report, question by question. We then checked the original text and each company's earnings reports and timely disclosures. Run and data as of October 30, 2026.

02 / Conditions

The conditions we applied across Japan.

Quantitative

Katana computes its metrics for every company.

Carrying amount of cross-shareholdings (the filer plus its main subsidiaries) is at least 80% of market cap, both as of the fiscal year end

Qualitative

AI reads each annual report and judges support and counterevidence.

The company states a policy to reduce or sell its cross-shareholdings (strategic shareholdings).
The company states it will use proceeds from selling cross-shareholdings for shareholder returns such as dividends or share buybacks.

The questions were entered in English and judged in order.

~3,800listed companies

42match the numbers

0AI judged as supported

Katana

read the filings and supported none.

03 / Results

None supported. We list 8 checked against the source text and disclosures.

Of 42 companies, none were supported, 9 need review and 33 had counterevidence. Of the 9 needing review, we list the 8 whose policy to sell we confirmed in the source text. The 5 that state both a policy to sell and a policy to return the proceeds come first, followed by 3 whose link to shareholder returns is weaker.

TBS Holdings9401 · Information & communication

Growth investment in content IP takes time to expand operating cash flow, so it will balance growth investment and shareholder returns.Filing ↗A TV broadcasting holding company. Its holdings were ¥908.9 billion, about the same as its ¥927.5 billion market cap (both at the fiscal year end). In May it raised its plan to sell investment securities to at least ¥135 billion and lifted shareholder returns to about ¥105 billion. It plans an annual dividend of ¥100 this year.
MegaChips6875 · Electric appliances

It will cut cross-shareholdings and use cash from operations and share sales for growth investment and shareholder returns.Filing ↗An LSI company that gets 77% of its sales from Nintendo. Most of its ¥203.7 billion holdings are shares of SiTime in the US, and it plans to cut its stake to about 5% by fiscal 2030. In April–June 2026, a ¥48.4 billion gain on SiTime shares lifted quarterly net income to a record ¥33.4 billion, and it spent ¥9.3 billion on buybacks in the same quarter.
Tokai Senko3577 · Textiles & apparel

It will use the gains and cash from cutting cross-shareholdings to strengthen shareholder returns.Filing ↗A dyeing company that also runs childcare and laundry businesses. Its ¥3.6 billion holdings exceed its ¥3.5 billion market cap. Its dividend policy says it will use money from cutting cross-shareholdings to strengthen shareholder returns. On October 23 it decided to sell two listed stocks, with an expected gain of about ¥360 million.
Nippon Concrete Industries5269 · Glass & ceramics products

Sales of cross-shareholdings are on plan, and the money will go to growth investment and shareholder returns.Filing ↗A maker of concrete piles and poles. Its ¥17.3 billion holdings are 95% of its ¥18.1 billion market cap. Its 2024 mid-term plan set a reduction guide of about ¥2 billion, and last year it booked a ¥770 million gain on sales. It plans to raise its annual dividend from ¥8 to ¥10 this year.
Sun Messe7883 · Other products

It will keep cutting cross-shareholdings and put the money into growth investment and shareholder returns.Filing ↗A printing company in Gifu. Its ¥6.9 billion holdings exceed its ¥6.5 billion market cap. It has drawn up a new management vision toward 2035, with cutting cross-shareholdings and shareholder returns in its capital policy.
Yasuda Logistics9324 · Warehousing & harbor transportation

It aims to cut cross-shareholdings by about ¥10 billion at market value over three years, fund facilities and M&A, and consider progressive dividends and buybacks.Filing ↗A warehousing and real estate company. Its ¥76.4 billion holdings exceed its ¥72.7 billion market cap. It plans to cut about ¥10 billion at market value over three years and invest the money in logistics facilities and M&A. On returns, it says it will consider progressive dividends and buybacks.
Dynapac3947 · Pulp & paper

Cutting cross-shareholdings and borrowing: ¥10.5 billion.Filing ↗A maker of corrugated boxes and paper packaging. Its 2024–2026 financial plan raises ¥10.5 billion from cutting cross-shareholdings and borrowing, and puts ¥13.5 billion into growth such as M&A and ¥2.5 billion into dividends and buybacks.
Maruo Calcium4102 · Chemicals

It will sell cross-shareholdings, buy back shares and invest to raise profitability.Filing ↗A calcium carbonate company. Its ¥4.3 billion holdings are 1.3 times its ¥3.3 billion market cap. It lists selling cross-shareholdings alongside buybacks, and last year gains on sales nearly doubled its net income.

04 / Takeaway

At 5 of the 8, holdings exceed the market cap. They are selling only a few percent a year.

The 8 companies are sorted by holdings ÷ market cap. Above 1x, the share price does not even cover the market value of the cross-shareholdings. Holdings and market caps are as of the fiscal year end; the share sold is last year's sales divided by holdings.

Company	Holdings ÷ mkt cap	Holdings	Market cap	Share sold
MegaChips	1.41x	¥203.7bn	¥144.9bn	7.9%
Maruo Calcium	1.29x	¥4.3bn	¥3.3bn	2.2%
Sun Messe	1.06x	¥6.9bn	¥6.5bn	6.1%
Yasuda Logistics	1.05x	¥76.4bn	¥72.7bn	3.4%
Tokai Senko	1.03x	¥3.6bn	¥3.5bn	6.3%
TBS	0.98x	¥908.9bn	¥927.5bn	5.4%
Nippon Concrete	0.95x	¥17.3bn	¥18.1bn	6.1%
Dynapac	0.81x	¥19.2bn	¥23.8bn	12.7%

Across all 42 companies, holdings exceed the market cap at 23. Holdings are pre-sale market values, and selling them triggers tax on the gains. Even so, an amount close to each company's market value sits in its business partners' shares.

Last year, these 8 sold 2–13% of their holdings. At the same pace, selling everything would take 8 years even for Dynapac, 19 years for TBS and 29 years for Yasuda Logistics. Companies that state sale targets in yen also aim to sell only a small part of what they hold.

Company	Holdings	Sale target	Share of holdings
TBS	¥908.9bn	≥¥135bn (FY2024–26)	15%
Yasuda Logistics	¥76.4bn	~¥10bn at market (3 years)	13%
Nippon Concrete	¥17.3bn	~¥2bn (2024 plan)	12%

TBS's target covers all investment securities, including cross-shareholdings. Even on target, most of the holdings remain.

Sales lift profits as well. Tokai Senko's expected gain of about ¥360 million from the sale it decided in October is more than three times its ¥100 million net income forecast for this year. Nippon Concrete's ¥770 million gain last year exceeded its ¥680 million net income.

These are companies whose share prices do not even cover their cross-shareholdings, selling those shares a few percent a year and saying they will return the money to shareholders. The selling has only begun, and it will keep funding dividends and buybacks for a decade or more.

Your stock-picking, handed straight to AI.

Katana narrows companies with its own metrics, and AI reads annual reports to judge qualitative conditions. For complex theses and company profiles, the selection you used to do one company at a time, AI now runs across the Japanese market.

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