Announcement of Joint Venture Establishment with TIGEREYE Inc.

Merchant Bankers Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'Merchant Bankers') announces that it has agreed with TIGEREYE Inc. (hereinafter referred to as 'TIGEREYE') to establish a joint venture company, DragonEye Inc. (hereinafter referred to as 'DragonEye'). The decision was resolved at Merchant Bankers' Board of Directors meeting on July 13, 2026.

1. Reasons for Establishing the Joint Venture

As disclosed in the timely disclosure document dated June 23, 2026, titled 'Acquisition of Shares in TIGEREYE Inc. through Third-Party Allotment of Treasury Shares (Transition to an Equity-Method Affiliate)', Merchant Bankers acquired 21.0% of the issued shares of TIGEREYE on July 9, 2026, thereby transitioning it to an equity-method affiliate. Merchant Bankers and TIGEREYE will deepen their partnership, positioning TIGEREYE as a strategic growth partner in AI for the Merchant Bankers Group.

As a concrete growth strategy based on this partnership, Merchant Bankers and TIGEREYE will first establish the joint venture DragonEye Inc. to fully leverage TIGEREYE’s high-precision AI control technology—integrating vision, voice, and language—across various initiatives within the Merchant Bankers Group.

As DragonEye’s first initiative, the company will launch AI-powered video production. It will apply cutting-edge generative AI to real-world production quality, offering end-to-end commissioned production of CMs, PVs, and corporate VPs using AI. Through low-cost operations powered by TIGEREYE’s AI, DragonEye will conduct model verification, fundamental research, and provide a production platform. Leveraging Merchant Bankers’ expertise in sales, business development, investment, and real estate, the company will secure client orders.

In launching AI video production, DragonEye will utilize 'Merchantman,' originally the image character of Merchant Bankers, by:

① AI-izing it (the birth of 'AI Merchantman')

② Training 'AI Merchantman' to a level capable of presentations and conversations

and then use it as a sample model for AI video creation.

Regarding Merchantman, as announced in the PR information dated March 8, 2024, titled 'Notice of Termination of Relationship with Merchantman,' the relationship with Merchant Bankers was amicably terminated through discussions with the copyright holder.

Now, for the purpose of character AI-ization and AI-driven video production at DragonEye, 'Merchantman' is being adopted—not as Merchant Bankers’ image character, but because transforming it into an AI character is deemed the most suitable way to promote DragonEye’s AI characters and AI video production, backed by TIGEREYE’s conversational AI avatar technology. Consent has been obtained from the copyright holder.

The 'Merchantman' character is scheduled to return in September 2026 with the release of the comic 'The Return of Merchantman' by Gentosha. Collaboration between DragonEye’s 'AI Merchantman' and the comic 'The Return of Merchantman' is highly anticipated.

2. Overview of the Newly Established Subsidiary (DragonEye Inc.)

3. Overview of the Joint Venture Partner

4. Timeline

5. Future Outlook

The establishment of the joint venture with TIGEREYE is expected to contribute to the long-term performance improvement of the Merchant Bankers Group. However, the impact on the fiscal year ending October 2026 is expected to be minimal. Should any significant events affecting performance occur, they will be disclosed promptly.

End