NTT eyeing full control of NTT Data with buyout plan: report

May 08, 2025 10:28 AM

Japanese telecom giant NTT is reportedly planning to take its NTT Data subsidiary private by buying up the shares it doesn’t already own.

The Nikkei newspaper first reported the move, saying NTT aims to make NTT Data a wholly owned subsidiary.

The telco addressed the report in a statement, confirming its board of directors' plan to “make a decision regarding this matter” and will make an announcement “if and when it becomes necessary”.

After NTT went private in the mid-80s, the Data brand was spun off, with the telco owning a majority 57.7% share.

The Master Trust Bank of Japan is the second largest shareholder at NTT Data, holding an 11.57% share, while the Custody Bank of Japan owns 6.19% of shares.

A range of institutional investors also hold smaller stakes, including JP Morgan Chase, HSBC’s Hong Kong Treasury Services, and State Street Bank and Trust, each with less than 1%. NTT Data’s Employee Share-Holding Association owns 1.02%.

The move echoes NTT’s 2020 decision to take mobile arm NTT Docomo private in a $40 billion deal, part of a broader consolidation strategy aimed at improving operational efficiency and global competitiveness.

The buyout plan comes as NTT Data prepares to offload six of its global data centre assets in the US, Austria and Singapore, into a newly proposed real estate investment trust (REIT), which it plans to list on the Singapore Exchange.

The deal, approved by the board on May 8, is expected to generate a gain of ¥155.4 billion (~$1 billion) and forms part of NTT’s wider capital recycling strategy aimed at accelerating growth in its global data centre business.