Secom Co., Ltd.

Activist investor Flashlight Capital Partners has sent a letter to SECOM's board demanding an overhaul of the Japanese security group's overseas strategy. The Singapore-based firm notes that SECOM's May 2023 roadmap targeted overseas revenue of 10% of sales by March 2028, but with 18 months remaining overseas revenue stands at just 5.4%, barely above 5.3% three years ago. Flashlight Capital criticized SECOM's neglect of S-1 Corporation, whose revenue equals 24% of SECOM's but is excluded from consolidation because SECOM's 26% stake falls below the J-GAAP threshold, and called on SECOM to raise its stakes in S-1 and Taiwan SECOM to at least 50% for under JPY156bn, which would lift overseas revenue to roughly 28%. The firm also asked the board to develop a new roadmap with stretch targets and to assess whether current leadership is right to execute the growth plan, with Chief Executive Officer Sanghyun Lee arguing SECOM trades at 6.6x EV/EBITDA versus 9.9x for Verisure and that its share price could re-rate to JPY10,000, 57% upside from current levels. Flashlight Capital posed five questions to the board and requested a response by October 23, 2026.

Activist investor Flashlight Capital Partners is demanding that five Samsung Group affiliates, which hold a significant stake in South Korean security firm S1, disclose their shareholder registers. The Singapore-based firm's CEO, Sanghyun Lee, noted that S1's stock has lagged the KOSPI's returns over the past few years due to the excessive influence exerted by the five Samsung affiliates. He said that if access to the shareholder register is granted, they could communicate directly with shareholders of these five companies. According to S1's website, the five companies collectively hold 20.6% of S1's shares, with the largest shareholder being Japan's Secom, holding 25.7%. However, Samsung Group typically appoints its own executives as CEO. Additionally, S1 holds 11% of its own shares, a practice that critics say enables defenses against hostile takeovers. Flashlight launched a campaign in June to improve shareholder returns and has disclosed that it holds shares worth $40 million, representing about 2% of the company's market capitalization.