Mizuho Leasing Company, Limited: Becoming a platform company that co-creates the future with its customers

Since its establishment in 1969 under The Industrial Bank of Japan, now Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Leasing Company, Limited has steadily expanded its presence in Japan’s financial and leasing markets. It has achieved rapid growth, supported by capital investments from Mizuho Financial Group and Marubeni Corporation in March 2019.

That partnership-driven model now underpins the company’s ambition to evolve from a traditional leasing business into a platform operator that creates new value alongside customers.

Medium-term Management Plan: Results from the First Two Years

Mizuho Leasing’s current medium-term management plan covers the three fiscal years from 2023 through 2025. The period is positioned as a phase of aggressive resource investment in both business and management foundations to accelerate the growth needed to realize the company’s long-term vision. At the same time, the plan emphasizes transforming the business portfolio and strengthening the management base.

The company is already ahead of schedule. It has achieved all financial targets originally set for fiscal 2025, one year early. Net income reached 42.0 billion yen ($268.6 million) in fiscal 2024, matching the target. Return on assets was 1.8 percent, while return on equity was 12.2 percent.

Business Portfolio Transformation

President and CEO Akira Nakamura describes Mizuho Leasing’s portfolio as structured into three domains—core (Domestic Leasing, Real Estate), growth (Global, Environment & Energy and others) and frontier (such as Circular economy) —each with a different growth horizon and role in supporting the company’s future. He sees the advancement of this portfolio transformation as essential.

“Driving the transformation of our business portfolio, centered on our unique alliance strategy with Mizuho Financial Group and Marubeni, is crucial for our next stage of growth,” Nakamura says.

The alliance with Mizuho Financial Group is positioned as fundamental to operations. It continues to deliver stable earnings while serving as a powerful platform for co-creating value with customers across domestic leasing and real estate. As the company seeks to move beyond the traditional leasing company model, it has begun supplying risk capital and reinforcing equity investment activities to capture new opportunities.

Renewable energy investment in Portugal

The collaboration with Marubeni forms a key pillar of Mizuho Leasing’s overseas strategy. After forming a capital and business alliance with Marubeni, the company strengthened its capital base through a third-party share allotment in May 2024 and has since begun realizing results through overseas projects, including a renewable energy investment in Portugal and a Joint Investment in Rental Apartment Complexes in Australia, announced in 2025.

Beyond the collaboration with Marubeni and within Mizuho Financial Group, other cooperative efforts and new initiatives to effectively connect business value chains are progressing smoothly. The company is steadily progressing with its inorganic growth strategy, under which it has increased its stake in its Indian subsidiary, Mizuho RA Leasing, and in Nippon Steel Kowa Real Estate, made GECOSS an affiliate, and established ML ITAD Solutions.

Nakamura notes that operations in India made a significant contribution to performance in the fiscal year ended March 2024. Mizuho Leasing’s global business is steadily growing into a third pillar following its core domestic leasing and real estate businesses.

Strengthening Management Foundation

To support future growth, Mizuho Leasing is actively investing in its management foundation. Priority areas include IT infrastructure development, digital transformation, relocation of the headquarters and enhancements to its human resources strategy and risk management framework.

Mizuho Leasing aims to reshape its corporate culture, changing how it operates so employees act autonomously with purpose and a groupwide perspective, take initiative beyond conventional finance and help accelerate the company’s growth.

The planned move to a new headquarters in spring 2026 reflects this cultural ambition. The new office will feature a single-floor layout to foster a stronger sense of unity, create a more pleasant work environment, enhance job satisfaction, and support recruitment.

Looking ahead, Mizuho Leasing aims to take a major step forward by evolving beyond its leasing roots into a platform operator that collaboratively creates future value with its customers. By continuing to transform its business portfolio and reinforce its management foundation, the company is positioning itself for the next phase of sustainable growth.