East Rutherford, NJ— All shares of Mushroom Wisdom, Inc. have been acquired by Hokuto Corporation, one of Japan’s biggest mushroom cultivators with annual sales of about $600 million. The transaction also includes the acquisition of Sun Medica, Co., Ltd, an affiliate of Mushroom Wisdom as well as the transfer of intellectual property. Mushroom Wisdom and Sun Medica were founded by Mike Shirota and Tomoko Nakamura in 1991 and 1995 respectively. Over the last 25 years, Mushroom Wisdom has been a pioneer that introduced mushroom-based dietary supplements to the United States market and had a significant role in building the mushroom supplement industry.

Donna Noonan will continue to be president of Mushroom Wisdom and Tomoku Nakamura will remain vice president of Sun Medica and Mike Shirota will act as an advisor in the operation of Mushroom Wisdom. The acquisition, says Mushroom Wisdom is synergistic, serving to strengthen the firm financially and provide access to Hokuto’s vast business resources that will help expand the business. The acquisition is also a strategic opportunity for Hokuto, with both firms’ combined expertise and mushroom research, to get involved in the healthcare and dietary supplement industry in both Japan and the United States.