KDDI announced that it would close and liquidate its subsidiary’s food delivery business, menu. The decision was driven by a review of resource allocation in light of the competitive environment and the business outlook, raising questions about management’s stance toward the exit. We examine three points for reassessment.
KDDI announced that it would close the menu food delivery service operated by a subsidiary in August 2026 and dissolve and liquidate the company itself. The exit was decided in the interest of optimizing the allocation of management resources, taking into account changes in the competitive environment and the business outlook. Following the exit, KDDI acquired the counterparty’s shares to make the company a wholly owned subsidiary, then completed the exit process internally. This article takes another look at the event as an extension of KDDI’s management stance.
KDDI has built an integrated lifestyle-services ecosystem on a telecommunications platform centered on “au,” combining payments, banking, insurance, electricity, convenience stores, DX services for corporate customers, data centers and other businesses. Its strength is considered to be a business model that generates stable cash every month. At the same time, in Japan’s telecommunications market, which is vulnerable to population decline and regulatory impacts, KDDI’s exit from menu can be viewed as a decision concerning the reallocation of resources and the securing of long-term profitability.
The article seeks to reassess the exit based on three reasons. First, discipline in exiting businesses was demonstrated through execution rather than words. Second, the earnings power of the core business may be quietly turning around. Third, capital policy has begun to move in earnest through the unwinding of cross-shareholdings and the listing of subsidiaries. These points are used to break down KDDI’s business structure and the way it deploys capital.