Debt-saddled Sato Kogyo Co. and eight of its subsidiaries filed for protection from creditors with the Tokyo District Court on Sunday under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law, becoming the second midsize general construction contractor to collapse in the three months since Aoki Corp. folded in December.
Earlier Sunday, Sato Kogyo's board decided to give up efforts to rebuild on its own and to seek court-led bankruptcy proceedings after Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and other main creditors refused to give it aid, company officials said.
Sato Kogyo, the nation's 10th-largest general contractor in terms of consolidated revenues, said its parent-only liabilities totaled 449.9 billion yen as of Jan. 21.