A billboard in front of Mitsubishi Corporation’s headquarters in Tokyo, Thursday, January 15, 2026. Mitsubishi Corporation has agreed to buy Aison Energy Management LLC’s U.S. gas and pipeline assets for $5.2 billion, making it the largest acquisition by a Japanese company in the U.S. shale sector. Photographer: Takaaki Iwabe/Bloomberg (via Getty Images)
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Mitsubishi Corporation announced Friday that a Japanese trading house aiming to increase its presence in Japan’s energy market will acquire U.S. shale gas assets in a $7.53 billion deal that includes debt.
Mitsubishi Motors aims to capitalize on rising power demand from data centers, manufacturing and LNG exports by expanding in the world’s largest gas market, citing growth in domestic consumption, production, exports and further demand.
The company will acquire assets from Aethon Energy Management in Texas and Louisiana in a deal that includes a $5.2 billion stock purchase and $2.33 billion in Aethon debt.
Mitsubishi’s deal comes after JERA, Japan’s largest power generation company, announced in October a $1.5 billion investment in the Haynesville Shale Basin on the Louisiana-Texas border as part of the Japanese government’s $550 billion investment commitment to the United States.
Last month, Japanese media outlet Nikkei reported that projects in the energy sector were likely to be candidates for Japan’s investment pledges, but it was not immediately clear whether the Mitsubishi Corp deal would be included in the proposed investments.
Mitsubishi Corporation said in a filing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange that the investment will strengthen the earnings base of its natural gas and LNG business.
The company also said it will accelerate efforts to build an integrated value chain in the U.S. “from upstream gas development to power generation, data center development, chemical production and related operations.”
Mitsubishi Corporation’s stock price fell 2% after the acquisition was announced.
The company has multiple investments in natural gas, with projects in Alaska, Malaysia, Canada, and Indonesia, among others.
Mitsubishi currently has a total LNG production capacity of approximately 15 million tonnes per year across projects, and it is estimated that Aseon’s assets will add similar capacity and double overall production.
The company said it also plans to expand in the United States by engaging in power generation and manufacturing operations with competitive upstream gas projects.
Mitsubishi currently partners with U.S. energy company Ovintiv in British Columbia, Canada, for upstream shale gas development, midstream marketing and logistics through its Houston-based subsidiary CIMA Energy, and LNG exports through LNG Canada and Cameron LNG.
