OREANDA-NEWS. August 9, 2011. ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has invested in NEW Japan K.K. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Hiroshi Miyamoto, Managing Director; hereinafter “NEW Japan”) a subsidiary of N.E.W. Customer Services, Inc. (headquartered in Virginia, U.S.A.; Tony Nader, President & CEO; hereinafter “NEW”), the world’s largest extended warranty services*1 provider. Through NEW Japan, we aim to further disseminate extended warranty service in Japan, as well as develop new services.

In Europe and North America, extended warranty services have spread extensively and are now offered in respect of a variety of products and services, warranting products beyond the manufacturer’s warranty period as well as providing warranties against damages that are not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. In Japan too, extended warranty services are becoming widespread, mainly for household appliances, and the extended warranty market is expected to expand even more in the future.

Established in the United States in 1983, NEW is an independent extended warranty service provider that has been offering general customers extended warranty service plans tailored to all business circumstances, through companies in a variety of industry sectors, such as major retailers, household appliance manufacturers, telecommunications carriers, and financial service providers. Currently, NEW has approximately 6,000 employees in the United States, Canada, Japan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom and holds approximately 150 million extended warranty agreements, enabling purchasers to use products with peace of mind for a fixed period of time after the manufacturer’s warranty expires.

This investment will allow ITOCHU to develop the extended warranty services business in Japan through NEW Japan. As well as seeking to further disseminate extended warranty services by utilizing its various networks as a trading company, NEW Japan aims to develop new extended warranty services by merging ITOCHU’s business know-how with NEW’s operational know-how. In the future, by developing extended warranty services in diverse fields, ITOCHU aims to create and provide high-value-added services that will protect customer assets.

*1 Extended warranty service

Extended warranty service is a service that warrants various types of products, including household appliances, for a fixed period after the manufacturer’s warranty has expired. In Japan, the extended warranty market is estimated at 100-150 billion yen, and in the future demand for extended warranty services is expected to rise since consumer durables will be used for longer owing to increased eco-consciousness.