Striders acquires IT firm block party to bring DX work in-house
What's the deal? Tokyo-listed StridersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (TSE: 9816) will fully acquire block partyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an Okayama-based firm specialising in web application development, system operation, and IT consulting. The board approved the share exchange on September 30, 2026, with the deal set to take effect on October 30, 2026. Terms were not disclosed.
What each side brings: Striders runs real estate, hotel and regional revitalisation, and investment businesses. Block party, founded in 2013, offers hands-on IT support — system planning, development, maintenance, and technical advisory. It divested its restaurant business on August 1, 2026, leaving a pure IT entity for the acquisition.
Why now? The two companies already work together on system development and maintenance through outsourcing contracts. Bringing block party into the group turns that external relationship into an internal capability, cutting costs and speeding up work.
What's the endgame? Striders wants IT and digital transformation (DX) expertise it can deploy across the group — and beyond. It plans to use block party to support portfolio companies and acquisition targets, including post-merger integration work such as system consolidation and IT architecture reviews.
Chief executive's view: "Through our past collaboration, I have felt its expertise and its flexible approach to addressing our group's challenges," chief executive officer Ryotaro Hayakawa said of block party (translated from Japanese). He added that Striders aims to apply AI and new digital technologies to create fresh services and business value.
The signal: Striders is doing what many acquisitive groups now attempt — folding a technical team into the core business to raise the value of future deals from the inside. By owning the DX function rather than renting it, the group bets that integration speed and portfolio support become a competitive edge in its investment and M&A pipeline.
Read more: prtimes.jp
Image credit: EU-Ukraine cooperation
