IR News｜News

At a meeting of the Board of Directors today, Benesse Corporation appointed new representative directors with immediate effect and announced informal appointments of other executives scheduled to take effect on June 24, 2007.

1.New representative directors, effective April 27, 2007

Name: Soichiro Fukutake
New position: Representative Director, Chairman and CEO
Former position: Representative Director, Chairman, President and CEO

Name: Kenichi Fukuhara
New position: Representative Director, Vice Chairman and Deputy CEO; in charge of Group companies
Former position: Director, Corporate Senior Executive Vice President; in charge of Corporate Directorsﾂ' Office, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Department; President, Benesse Style Care Co., Ltd.

Name: Tamotsu Fukushima
New position: Representative Director, President and COO; President, Education Company
Former position: Director, Corporate Senior Executive Vice President, CMO, and President of Sales Headquarters; in charge of Corporate Directorsﾂ' Office, Procurement & Logistics Department

2.Reasons for new representative director appointments
Until today, Soichiro Fukutake has concurrently held the posts of Representative Director, Chairman, President and CEO. However, in order to strengthen corporate governance for the entire Benesse Group and ensure timely and accurate management decisions, the Company has decided to split senior management roles among three representative directors. The respective roles of the representative directors are as follows:

Chairman & CEO: The Companyﾂ's most senior manager; responsible for formulating the corporate vision and management policy for the entire Benesse Group, and ultimately responsible for the management of the Benesse Group.

Vice Chairman & Deputy CEO: Support for the management activities of the CEO; responsible for the management of all major Group companies except Benesse Corporation (parent).

President & COO: Responsible for operational execution at Benesse Corporation (parent), particularly the education business. The President & COO is also President of the in-house Education Company.

3.Other executive appointments, effective June 24, 2007

(1)Company representatives: No changes effective June 24, 2007

(2)Other positions
(i)Director candidates

Name: Eiji Aketa
New position: Director, Corporate Executive Vice President; President Compulsory Education Division
Current position: Corporate Executive Vice President: President, Compulsory Education Division

Name: Daisuke Okada
New position: Director, Corporate Executive Vice President, CMO and President, Sales Headquarters
Current position: Corporate Senior Vice President; Vice President, Sales Headquarters; General Manager, Pioneer Kids Business Development Headquarters; General Manager, Private Junior High School Entrance Exam Department

(ii)Independent director candidate

Name: Yukako Uchinaga
Formerly Director and Corporate Senior Executive Vice President, IBM Japan (retired March 2007)
Member of Gender Equality Bureau, Cabinet Office

(iii)Outside corporate auditor candidate

Name: Nobuko Takahashi
Lifestyle and economic journalist; Outside Director, Tokyo Stock Exchange; Member, Central Council for Education, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

(iv)Retiring outside corporate auditor

Name: Kazuo Ichikawa
Mr. Ichikawa has no plans to join another company after June 24, 2007.