Fujitec
Japanese manufacturer and service provider specializing in elevators, escalators, and moving walkways.
Last updated August 22, 2026
Overview
Fujitec is a Japanese building-transportation company focused on elevators, escalators, and moving walkways, also known as travellators. The company was established in February 1948 by Shotaro Uchiyama, who later became its honorary chairman. Its original purpose covered the full lifecycle of vertical-transportation equipment: research and development, manufacturing, sales, installation, and maintenance. That integrated model remains central to Fujitec's identity and gives the company a role not only as an equipment supplier but also as a long-term service provider for buildings and infrastructure. The company's product scope serves a wide range of built environments, including commercial buildings, offices, residential properties, transportation facilities, and other large public or private developments. Its portfolio includes conventional and high-speed elevators, escalators, and moving walkways. In addition to supplying new equipment, Fujitec provides installation and ongoing maintenance, activities that are particularly important in the elevator industry because equipment remains in service for many years and requires inspection, modernization, replacement parts, and technical support. Fujitec operates internationally through regional organizations and manufacturing sites. Its operational structure includes headquarters or major operating bases serving the Americas, Japan, South Asia, East Asia, and Europe. The company has also established subsidiaries and service organizations in markets such as Singapore, the United States, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Indonesia. Fujitec Singapore Corp., established in 1988, illustrates the group's regional approach: it has been involved in the manufacture, installation, and servicing of elevators, escalators, and moving walkways. Manufacturing and engineering activities are distributed across multiple locations. In Japan, Fujitec operates an elevator factory in Hikone and an escalator factory in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture. Overseas production and engineering facilities include sites in the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea, as well as an escalator factory in Shanghai. This network supports local or regional procurement, production, installation, and after-sales service while maintaining access to the group's broader research and engineering capabilities. Research and testing are prominent features of Fujitec's operating model. The company's Big Wing facility in Japan contains a 560-foot research tower used for technology development and for coordinating product-development, design, and manufacturing activities. Fujitec America operates another recognizable testing facility near its United States headquarters in Mason, Ohio, with a blue-capped elevator research and test tower approximately 220 feet high. In China, the company has a research and development facility in Shanghai's Song Jiang Industrial Zone, occupying approximately 150,000 square metres and used in part for parts and component procurement. Fujitec is listed in Japan under ticker 6406.T. The available reference material identifies the company as an active international elevator manufacturer, but does not provide a reliable current list of executives, ownership details, financial figures, or a confirmed post-tender ownership outcome. In July 2025, European investment firm EQT launched a tender offer seeking an 85% stake in Fujitec; the source material does not establish whether that offer was completed. Fujitec's present brand proposition is therefore best described as integrated building-transportation expertise: engineering and manufacturing combined with installation, modernization, and maintenance across a multinational operating network.
History
Fujitec was founded in February 1948 by Shotaro Uchiyama as a company intended to research, develop, manufacture, sell, install, and maintain elevators, escalators, and moving walkways. From the beginning, this broad remit positioned the company across the principal stages of the vertical-transportation value chain rather than limiting it to equipment fabrication. Uchiyama later became Fujitec's honorary chairman. The company developed its business around the needs of buildings and infrastructure that require reliable movement of people between floors or across large public spaces. Its principal technologies became elevators, escalators, and travellators, with associated activities including engineering, installation, servicing, and maintenance. The reference material does not provide a complete chronology of individual product launches, corporate reorganizations, or leadership changes, so the documented history is clearer at the level of business expansion and facilities than at the level of named product generations. Fujitec expanded beyond Japan through regional subsidiaries and operating organizations. Fujitec Singapore Corp. was established in 1988 and specialized in the manufacture, installation, and service of lifts, escalators, and moving walkways. The company subsequently developed a multinational manufacturing and service footprint covering the Americas, Japan, South Asia, East Asia, and Europe. Its international network includes manufacturing or engineering activity in the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. This structure allows Fujitec to combine global product and engineering resources with local installation and maintenance capabilities. Japanese facilities remain important to the company's research and manufacturing base. Fujitec operates an elevator factory in Hikone and an escalator factory in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture. Its Big Wing facility in Japan includes a 560-foot research tower, a major test and development resource used to advance technologies and connect product development, design, and manufacturing. The facility reflects the industry's need to validate equipment at substantial heights and under demanding operating conditions. Fujitec's overseas infrastructure includes an elevator factory in Cincinnati in the United States, production facilities in Singapore, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea, and an escalator factory in Shanghai. Fujitec America maintains a blue-capped elevator research and test tower near its headquarters in Mason, Ohio. In China, the company established a research and development facility in Shanghai's Song Jiang Industrial Zone. The approximately 150,000-square-metre site is also used for parts and component procurement, reinforcing the group's regional supply and engineering capabilities. By the 2020s, Fujitec was an internationally operating elevator manufacturer with a business spanning new equipment and continuing service. In July 2025, EQT launched a tender offer aimed at acquiring an 85% stake. The available material does not state whether the transaction closed, so it should be treated as a reported acquisition proposal rather than a confirmed change of control. Fujitec remains identified as an active company and is listed in Japan under ticker 6406.T.
- 2025EQT launches a tender offer
EQT launched a tender offer to acquire an 85% stake in Fujitec. The available source does not confirm whether the offer was completed.
- 1988Fujitec Singapore Corp. is established
The Singapore subsidiary was established to manufacture, install, and service elevators, escalators, and moving walkways in the regional market.
- 1948Fujitec is founded in Japan
Shotaro Uchiyama founded Fujitec in February 1948 to conduct research and development, manufacture, sell, install, and maintain elevators, escalators, and moving walkways.
- Big Wing research facility becomes a major Japanese test center
Fujitec's Big Wing facility in Japan houses a 560-foot research tower and supports technology development, design integration, and manufacturing coordination.
Products and positioning
Integrated international provider of vertical-transportation equipment, engineering, installation, and lifecycle maintenance.
ElevatorsVertical transportation
Fujitec's elevator business covers passenger and other building elevators, including standard and high-speed applications. The company participates across research, design, manufacturing, installation, sales, and maintenance. Its elevator engineering and testing infrastructure includes the Hikone factory, Japan's Big Wing research tower, and Fujitec America's test tower near Mason, Ohio.
EscalatorsVertical transportation
Fujitec manufactures and services escalators for buildings and public infrastructure. Japanese production includes an escalator factory in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture, while the group's international network includes an escalator factory in Shanghai. The offering is supported by installation and maintenance services through Fujitec's regional organizations.
Moving walkways and travellatorsHorizontal transportation
Fujitec supplies moving walkways, also referred to as travellators, for applications requiring horizontal or gently inclined movement over distance. The company has described this activity as including research, manufacturing, sales, installation, and maintenance, and its Singapore organization specifically handles moving-walkway service alongside elevators and escalators.
Flagship businesses
- Standard passenger elevators
- High-speed elevators
- Escalators
- Moving walkways and travellators
Brand decisions
- 2025Tender offer for a majority stakeM&A
European investment firm EQT announced a tender offer targeting an 85% stake in Fujitec.
What changed. EQT launched the tender offer. The available reference does not establish whether the offer was accepted or completed.
Aftermath. The post-offer ownership position and any resulting change in control are not confirmed by the supplied material.
Recent events
- 2025EQT launches tender offer for an 85% stake in Fujitec
European investment firm EQT launched a tender offer seeking to acquire an 85% stake in Fujitec. The available reference does not confirm the offer's completion or the resulting ownership structure.
M&A
Sources
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