Dentsu reportedly looking to sell Tokyo HQ

According to Japan-based media reports this morning, Dentsu is considering selling its Tokyo headquarters.

Nikkei Asia reported that the potential deal could be worth around 300 billion yen (US$2.9 billion), which would make it one of the largest property sales ever in Japan. Japan Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that the company has already found candidate buyers.

Dentsu has issued a statement to say it has no comment.

Built in 2002, the 48-floor building in the waterfront Shiodome district of Tokyo's Minato ward has housed as many as 9,000 Dentsu employees, but only a fraction of those are currently commuting to work. 

In November, Dentsu posted weak numbers for the third quarter of its financial year, reporting a 14.2% year-over-year decline in revenue and a 24.4% YOY drop in operating profit. That made Dentsu the worst performing of the big ad networks for that quarter.

In December, Dentsu warned that it would be reporting an annual loss for the second year in a row and said its international arm would be cutting up to 6,000 jobs around the world. Dentsu International will run up a US$850 million cost, including $545 million in 2020 and the remainder in 2021, as part of that restructuring.

Dentsu International, which in the middle of last year recruited Wendy Clark from DDB to be its chief executive, is also aiming to slash the number of agency brands it operates from more than 160 to six global leadership brands within two years.

In January Dentsu confirmed that its performance-marketing network iProspect would swallow up Vizeum.