Kakaku Board Recommends ¥3,000 per Share Bid by EQT of Sweden

Research evidence excerpt

Kakaku Board Recommends ¥3,000 per Share Bid by EQT of Sweden

Kakaku.com, Inc. (2371 JP)

Equity Research

May 12, 2026

Company Description

Kakaku.com

Kakaku.com was established as CORE PRICE Limited in April 1997 and changed its organizational structure to Kakaku.com, Inc. in May 2000.

It was listed on TSE Mothers in March 2003. It operates by comparing prices on internet services, which aggregates prices of various products

and services and enables users to search for the lowest price using its internet platform. Covered product/services include household goods,

electric products, internet connection and insurance. Meanwhile, its “Tabelog” business provides a review site for restaurants, monetizing from fee-

payment by premium users and service fees from restaurants. It has also expanded business coverage to real estate and travel-related services.

Company Valuation/Risks

Our PT is ¥2,160, based on 17.7x PER applied to our FY3/27E EPS forecast of ¥122.3. Downside risks: macro slowdown, price comparison

businesses do not recover, cancellation of contracts in Tabelog business and/or slowdown in Kyujin Box. The upside potential is a good M&A

choice. Acceleration of the fundamentals of investments.

Digital Garage

We value Digital Garage based on a Sum-of-the-Parts (SOTP) model, where we factor in various segment future net profit forecasts with

appropriate valuations. Risks to our thesis are: 1) decreased resilience in payments, 2) smaller-than-expected payment flows from KDDI, 3) further

write-downs in global investments.

EQT AB

We value EQT using a SOTP approach as our primary valuation methodology. This and similar types of SOTP approaches have become

commonplace for valuing global alts stocks, as it allows for a specific multiple to each earnings component.