On the 2nd, Oggi International (Osaka City), which took over the brands “Durban” and “Aquascutum” from the bankrupt clothing company Renown, announced that it would change its name to “Renown” in November. The correct name after the change will be “Renown Co., Ltd.”, which is simply a swap of the position of the “Kabushiki Gaisha” (company name) that is the legal entity from the bankrupt Renown Co., Ltd. “Maekabu” (front company name) and “Ato Kabu” (back company name) will make the two completely different companies, but what exactly will the difference between Maekabu and Ato Kabu mean?

There are also “medium-cap” companies.

OGGY International decided to change the company name to include “Renown” in order to improve its recognition, as the two brands it inherited from Renown have grown into its main business, accounting for about 40% of its sales. A representative explained that the reason for changing the “previous share” in the company name to the “next share” was “to ensure that the company is recognized as a completely separate company from the bankrupt Renown, and to avoid confusion for its creditors.”

The Companies Act requires that a company’s legal status be included somewhere in its name, but does not specify where it should be placed. In addition to the common “previous share” and “next share,” “medium shares” such as “XX Corporation XX” are also legally permitted. In the past, the existence of impressive medium-share companies such as “Data Processing Landscape Co., Ltd.” was well known.

There are many IT companies

According to SOICO, which supports the establishment of venture companies, “Generally, the most common company names are maekabuki, and for company names in the alphabet or katakana, maekabuki often fits better, and there is also an impression that IT companies often use maekabuki.” Major examples include Seven-Eleven Japan, CyberAgent, and Recruit Holdings.

On the other hand, Gobunbun’s analysis is that “many companies that were established before the war have Gobunbun, and they tend to give the impression of being solid and traditional.” Major examples include Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan Airlines, Fujitsu, and even relatively new companies such as Rakuten have Gobunbunbun names.

He also claims that the advantage of using Mae Kabu is that “by putting Kabu-sha first, you can appeal to the public that you are a company run by stock, which leads to increased trust.” In contrast, Ato Kabu emphasizes that “by putting the company name before Kabu-sha, the company name stands out, making it easier to sell the company as a brand.” He also says that another advantage is that “when arranged in alphabetical order, the company name will not get lost among the many other company names that start with Kabu-sha.”

Same name registration possible if location is different

According to a survey published by Tokyo Shoko Research in 2017, the most common type of corporate status for bankrupt companies was “Mae Kabu” (front stock), with 71,460 cases, accounting for 39.7% of the total. This is about double the number of “Ato Kabu” (back stock) bankruptcies, which totaled 41,168 cases (22.9%), raising hopes that this will be an auspicious name change for Oggi International, which has adopted the name Ato Kabu.

By the way, if the order of the characters in the name of the company is different or the head office address is not the same, it is possible to register the same company name. According to a survey by Tokyo Shoko Research, of the approximately 680,000 corporations established in the five years of Reiwa, the most common company name was “Assist” with 235 companies. The second most common was “LINK” (231 companies).

Changed name to Renown and continued as a brand

Renown to disappear by the end of the year as bankruptcy proceedings are completed