> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://news.knockology.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Pentel becomes Astrum as PLUS plans integration through 2028 - URL: https://news.knockology.com/pentel-becomes-astrum/ - Published: 2026-04-01T17:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-28T18:47:56.000Z - Description: The product brand stays. An earlier name change, a 2022 takeover and a shared management structure explain the next step for the company behind it. - Author: Thomas - Tags: Industry, Pentel, Astrum, PLUS, Corporate changes, Japan, #Import 2026-09-28 19:31 [Pentel](https://www.pentel.co.jp/?ref=news.knockology.com) Co., Ltd. becomes [**ASTRUM CORPORATION**](https://www.astrum-st.com/en/?ref=news.knockology.com) **on April 1**, giving the company a new identity as the base for [PLUS](https://www.plus.co.jp/?ref=news.knockology.com)’s planned stationery-business integration through 2028\. The [March 17 announcement](https://www.astrum-st.com/en/news/20260317/?ref=news.knockology.com) keeps the Pentel product brand in place worldwide. There is more here than a new name on the letterhead. An ownership change, a shared management structure and now a staged integration have brought one of the pencil industry’s familiar names into a much larger company story. ## Pentel has changed its name before The business began in **1946 as Dai Nippon Bungu**. “Pentel” first appeared as the name of an oil pastel in 1951; the company adopted it as its own name in 1971\. Its [official history](https://www.pentel.co.jp/about/history/?ref=news.knockology.com) links that decision to the success of the Sign Pen and the international expansion of its mechanical pencils and replacement leads. There is a nice pencil-world detail in that timeline: [**Kerry**](https://www.pentel.co.jp/products/mechanicalpencil/mannencil%5Fkerry/?ref=news.knockology.com) **also arrived in 1971**. The corporate Pentel name and the capped pencil have been around for the same stretch of history. This time, the company is adopting a broader identity while keeping the product name that customers already know. ![Black-and-white archive photograph of low buildings, a courtyard, trees and a tall chimney](https://news.knockology.com/content/images/2026/09/pentel-history-1946-original.jpg) A building photograph from Pentel’s company archive, published beside its 1946 founding entry. The source does not identify the building or the photograph’s date. [Photograph: Pentel](https://www.pentel.co.jp/about/history/?ref=news.knockology.com) ## The ownership change came in 2022 PLUS had already built a stake through Japan Stationery Consortium in 2019\. In September 2022, it [announced a deal to buy Kokuyo’s entire Pentel holding](https://www.plus.co.jp/news/202209/004689/?ref=news.knockology.com)—45.6% of the shares. That meant all of Kokuyo’s stake, rather than all of Pentel. The completed acquisition took the PLUS group’s voting interest from **30.7% to 76.3%**, according to its [2022 financial statements](https://www.plus.co.jp/finance/2022/2022%5Fconsolidated%5Ffinancial%5Fstatements.pdf?ref=news.knockology.com#page=14). PLUS’s [corporate history](https://www.plus.co.jp/data/corporate%5Fhistory/?ref=news.knockology.com) places Pentel’s arrival as a subsidiary in November 2022\. Those percentages describe that transaction, not a freshly disclosed 2026 holding. A further step followed in January 2024\. PLUS established an internal [Global Stationery Company](https://www.plus.co.jp/news/202403/0-rh1ow2x/?ref=news.knockology.com) to coordinate strategy, management and brands across its stationery businesses, while the individual businesses continued running their own operations. April’s rename follows that earlier work. ## Who is in the PLUS plan? [**PLUS**](https://www.plus.co.jp/data/corporate%5Fdata/?ref=news.knockology.com) is a Tokyo-based group founded in 1948, with businesses spanning stationery, office furniture and distribution. The stationery division is one part of that wider group. [**Nippon Notebook**](https://www.nippon-note.co.jp/?ref=news.knockology.com) makes notebooks and paper stationery under names including APICA, KYOKUTO and OKINA. [**Sailor**](https://sailor.co.jp/company/company-outline/?ref=news.knockology.com) makes writing instruments, including fountain pens and mechanical pencils. Being in the same group does not mean every company is being merged into Astrum. ![Pentel mechanical pencils, lead, erasers, pens and art materials arranged against a red background](https://news.knockology.com/content/images/2026/09/pentel-official-brand-range.jpg) Pentel’s range, pictured by Astrum. Brand context, not an announced new lineup. [Photograph: Astrum](https://www.astrum-st.com/?ref=news.knockology.com) The [March 17 notice](https://www.plus.co.jp/news/202603/9j%5Fi1pam0l/?ref=news.knockology.com) includes PLUS Stationery, Pentel, Nippon Notebook and their domestic and overseas affiliates in the staged integration. Sailor has a different position: | Name | Role in the announcement | | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Astrum / Pentel | The renamed Pentel company provides the base for integration. Pentel continues as its product brand. | | PLUS Stationery | The parent company’s stationery division is included in the staged integration. | | Nippon Notebook | The notebook business is included in the staged integration. | | Sailor | A fellow group company, expected to retain its separate legal entity and stock-market listing. | ## What to watch from the pencil aisle The business question is how those companies will work together. PLUS’s acquisition documents identified cooperation in research and development, production, purchasing and domestic and overseas sales. Those are areas worth following for a manufacturer of pencils and leads. But the March announcement leaves the individual integration steps for later disclosure. It does not announce a new pencil mechanism, a factory move or a change to replacement parts. Whether the reorganization produces a better product or a wider route to market will need evidence from those next announcements. For now, there are two useful places to follow the story: [Pentel’s product site](https://www.pentel.co.jp/?ref=news.knockology.com) for what reaches the pencil aisle, and [Astrum’s corporate site](https://www.astrum-st.com/en/?ref=news.knockology.com) for the business behind it.