Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd. Housing Company (President: Masahide Yoshida) will establish Hokkaido Sekisui Heim Construction Co., Ltd., its first construction platform company in the Hokkaido area, on July 1, 2026, as part of its efforts to address the severe labor shortage in the construction industry. This new company will consolidate construction and construction management engineers previously dispersed among three companies—Hokkaido Sekisui Heim Co., Ltd., Hokkaido Sekisui Famies Co., Ltd., and Architec Planning Co., Ltd.—and will centrally manage construction management functions in the Hokkaido area, from the construction of new homes using steel-frame unit construction and wooden post-and-beam construction to the construction management of renovation work. Furthermore, in collaboration with construction subcontractors and other partners, it aims to establish a sustainable construction system for the entire region. 1. Background for Establishing the New Company The construction industry in Japan is facing an increasingly severe shortage of engineers and skilled workers, driven by the declining working-age population and the "2024 Problem." Ensuring a sustainable construction system has become an urgent issue. Within the Hokkaido area, our group has been committed to providing homes where customers can live with peace of mind for a long time, through Hokkaido Sekisui Heim Co., Ltd.'s provision of steel-frame unit homes "Sekisui Heim" and Hokkaido Sekisui Famies Co., Ltd.'s renovation business. To meet a wider range of customer needs, we welcomed Architec Planning Co., Ltd., which handles wooden houses, into our group in January 2026, promoting the creation of business synergies. The establishment of this new company builds upon this business foundation by consolidating and integrating the construction management functions dispersed among the three companies. We aim to build an integrated construction system in collaboration with each company's construction subco