Grant Thornton ASG and Taiyo Audit Corporation Agree to Merge

Press Release October 2005

TOKYO, JAPAN, October 11, 2005 - Grant Thornton ASG (an authorised audit corporation of Grant Thornton Japan) and Taiyo Audit Corporation announced today a definitive agreement to merge on January 1, 2006. The new corporation will be called Grant Thornton Taiyo ASG and will continue to be a member of Grant Thornton International.

Taiyo Audit Corporation has provided auditing services to listed companies and selected mid-size companies for over thirty years, since its establishment in 1971. Grant Thornton ASG was established in 1985, and provides global standard auditing services as a member of Grant Thornton International. The new audit corporation will combine the strengths of each firm, and will be in a position to provide different services from those offered by the Big Four in Japan.

Taiyo Audit Corporation is the seventh largest audit corporation in Japan and Grant Thornton ASG is the eighth largest according to revenue sizes (source: Leading Global Networks of Audit Firms in Japan, Nikkei newspaper, August 13, 2004). Following the merger, the new audit corporation will be the fifth largest with USD37 million revenue and 325 employees.

About The New Corporation After Merger
Company name: Grant Thornton Taiyo ASG
Partners: 26
Employees: 128
CPA & Junior Accountants:97
Office staff: 31
Total revenue: US$37m