📒President's Diary #43 [The Challenge of Going Public from Kumamoto! ── Challenges Clarified After Hearing About Kyushu FG Securities' 'IPO Support Service']
The other day, I received information about an IPO support service from Kyushu FG Securities under the theme of “The challenge of going public from Kumamoto”. Their explanation was very passionate, and I felt their strong conviction that “it is our mission to create publicly traded companies from Kumamoto.”
This time, I would like to organize the content and summarize my thoughts.
✅ Positioning of the Stock Markets
Recent IPO companies are classified into the following markets.
Prime Market
Standard Market
Growth Market
TOKYO PRO Market
The proposal from Kyushu FG Securities was to first list on the TOKYO PRO Market, and then step up gradually from Growth → Standard → Prime!
✅ Current Number of Listed Companies (Impressive Figures)
Nationwide: Approximately 4,055 companies
Kyushu/Okinawa: Approximately 149 companies
Kumamoto Prefecture: Only 9 companies
The words “we seriously want to increase the number of listed companies from Kumamoto” left a strong impression on me. Also, it seems there are no nursing care businesses among the listed companies from Kumamoto yet.
✅ Benefits of Listing on the TOKYO PRO Market
The unique benefits of the TOKYO PRO Market were also explained again.
The main benefits are as follows:
Improvement in brand awareness and credibility
Expansion of business partnership and M&A opportunities
Improvement in recruitment power and employee morale
Sophistication and visualization of internal management systems
Listing possible without changing shareholder structure
It was very clear that this is not a 'listing for the sake of raising funds,' but rather a listing to elevate the company to the next stage. position.
✅Disadvantages of the TOKYO PRO Market
Of course, there are not only advantages.
Main disadvantages
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Costs
IPO preparation costs: approximately 50 million yen
Annual listing maintenance costs: approximately 20 million yen
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Increased administrative burden
Increase in disclosure and management tasks
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Low liquidity
Few professional investors and inactive trading
✅One benchmark for considering an IPO
In my mind, annual sales of 2 billion yen is the benchmark for seriously considering an IPO. A listing is a means, not an end. It is meaningless without sufficient business scale, reproducibility, and the strength to continue growing after the listing.
✅What matters is 'how to win after the IPO'
The point that made me think the most during this discussion was the perspective of 'how to compete with existing listed companies after going public.'
Especially when compared to nursing care companies listed in the Kanto and Kansai regions, honestly, there is little chance of winning if a company from a regional area goes public in a half-baked state.
So, what is needed?
✅My answer and the theme for 2026
In 2026...
'Changing the future of nursing care through the power of technology'
I will take on this theme in earnest. If we cannot utilize technology to the fullest, we cannot beat the listed companies in Kanto and Kansai.
Labor shortages, operational efficiency, standardization of quality, and data utilization. I am convinced that only companies that can solve these issues with technology will be able to move to the next stage.