Macromill has agreed to issue 22,992 new shares to YVI as payment for the online research business, which is set to become part of Macromill from 1 August.

On receiving the shares, YVI will become Macromill’s largest shareholder, second only to Yahoo Japan, which holds 15,000 Macromill shares. Combined, Yahoo will have direct and indirect control of around 24% of the Macromill business.

Explaining the deal to shareholders, Yahoo Japan noted that “corporate demand for research services has cooled off temporarily since the fall of 2008 because of the economic recession”.

“Competition for research services has heightened in the industry,” said the company. “As a result, finding strategies to maintain or improve business earnings or profit growth rates has become an important issue for both companies.”

Macromill is headed by chairman and president Tetsuya Sugimoto (pictured), who founded the business in 2000.