Who owns Merries?
Merries is owned by Kao (Japan, TSE: 4452).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Kao Corporation Integrated Report 2025, 31 March 2026. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Kao Corporation reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇯🇵 Japan, Tokyo
- Origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- Founded
- 1983
- Category
- Personal care & beauty › Tissue & paper hygiene › Diapers & baby wipes
- Parent ticker
- TSE: 4452
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Merries
Merries is Kao's nappy brand and one of the largest in Japan, with a reputation for softness and absorbency that made it a significant grey-market export to China before Kao established local distribution. Chinese buyers travelling to Japan cleared shelves in quantities that led some retailers to impose purchase limits.
Ownership timeline of Merries
Where Merries sits in Kao
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Kao ownership tree →
See the full Kao brand portfolio (7) →
Other brands owned by Kao
Kao controls 7 brands on Brandtree, 6 of them in personal care & beauty.
Also in personal care & beauty
- Bioré (1980)
- Curél (1999)
- Jergens (1882)
- John Frieda (1988)
- Molton Brown (1971)
Founded in the 1980s
- Attack (1987)
Other brands in diapers & baby wipes, and who owns them
The 26 brands in diapers & baby wipes on Brandtree belong to 19 owners. The largest is Kimberly-Clark, with 3.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| GoodNites | Kimberly-Clark | 🇺🇸 United States |
| BBTips | CMPC | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| Barlie | Golrang Industrial Group | 🇮🇷 Iran |
| Anerle | Hengan | 🇨🇳 China |
| Luvs | Procter & Gamble | 🇺🇸 United States |
| MamyPoko | Unicharm | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Savlon Twinkle | ACI Limited | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh |
| Pee&Poo | Artsana | 🇮🇹 Italy |
About the owner: Kao
Kao is a publicly listed company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1887. Brandtree records 7 brands under its control, and it is listed as TSE: 4452.
Kao Corporation was founded in Tokyo in 1887 to make a domestic facial soap of a quality then only imported, and its name comes from the Japanese word for face. It spans household products, personal care, cosmetics and chemicals, and is one of the largest consumer goods companies in Asia.
🇯🇵 Merries and other Japanese brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 448 brands that began in Japan. 22 of them (5%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Merries is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Merries?
The parent company of Merries is Kao, a publicly listed company headquartered in Japan.
Is Merries Japanese?
Yes. Merries originated in Japan in 1983 and its owner, Kao, is also headquartered in Japan.
Is Merries still owned by Kao?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Merries is still owned by Kao. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Kao Corporation Integrated Report 2025 — Kao Corporation, Annual report, published 31 March 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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