June 14, 2022, Tokyo and San Francisco–Aspirant Group, a Japanese private equity firm, has agreed to acquire controlling stakes of John MastersOrganicsGroup, Inc. a leading organics cosmeticsproducer, and its US subsidiary John Masters Organics Inc.(“JMO”)from existing shareholders including JMO Holdings Limited.JMO owns organic life-style brand “john masters organics” and develops and sells organic cosmetics products in more than 40 countries. JMO was originally established in 1994in New York and is currently headquarteredin Tokyo. Following the acquisition by Aspirant Group, JMO’s representative director Yoshimune Noda will continue to serve as the company’s CEO and Chief Branding Officer. JMO’s business of developing and selling "john masters organics" products and all other businesses will remainunchanged. Aspirant Group is a Japanese private equity (PE) fund management company that has invested in and provided support tomore than 20 Japanese companies. The fund aims to increase corporate value through strong support of business improvement and growth, with management support members working collaboratively with companymanagement and employees.