Japan's pinball parlors [sic], which generated 29.5 trillion yen in sales last year, are going through a shake-up...Pachinko parlors lost 11 million players, 40 percent of their clientele, in the decade through 2005...Now, encouraged by the fastest annual growth in 15 years, companies such as Gaia and Kyoto-based Maruhan Corp., the biggest operator, are trying to win back customers with new venues, squeezing out smaller rivals..."There will be only a handful of operators in the near future, dominating most of the market" said Gaia's Sawada...Osaka Bussan Co., an operator of eight pachinko halls, failed in November with 6.8 billion yen of debt. Space Value Co., an operator in Chiba Prefecture, has applied to creditors for time to restructure the company, according to Teikoku Databank Ltd...more...
The article details how foreign investment banks are financing this consolidation.
