Tokyo-based conglomerate Sojitz Corp. aims to establish a foothold in the United States by buying a Minnesota-based sushi company.

In a Tuesday news release, Sojitz announced that it has “acquired all takeout sushi businesses” of Eagan-based Sushi Avenue Inc. 

The release said Sushi Avenue has over 300 retail locations in more than 20 states, though the company’s website says it operates over 500 retail locations in 33 states.

The precise scope and value of the transaction isn’t yet clear; a spokesperson for Sushi Avenue directed questions to Sojitz’s news release.

Sushi Avenue also has three full-service Masu Sushi & Robata restaurants in the Twin Cities. The future of the restaurants isn’t yet clear, either, and Sojitz’s announcement made no mention of them. In an email to TCB, a Sojitz spokesperson said the company has “only acquired Sushi Avenue’s sushi kiosks business and we are not in a position to comment on other business.”

The Masu Sushi location in Northeast Minneapolis has already been closed since April due to a fire. The company’s restaurant at the Mall of America, meanwhile, has closed after its lease expired, a mall spokesperson said in an email.

For its part, Sojitz is a huge corporate presence in Japan with holdings in numerous industries, including aerospace, energy, and more. In Tuesday’s news release, the company noted that it has “extensive experience in in the tuna farming and processing business as well as the seafood wholesale business.”

“In the U.S., high-end sushi restaurants previously set the trends, but in recent years sushi consumption has become localized and widespread with sushi offered even at school cafeterias and other casual dining settings,” Sojitz officials said in the press release. “The U.S. sushi market has expanded to nearly 1.6 times the size of Japan’s sushi market.”

Nay Hla, who founded Sushi Avenue in 2004, last year won an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Heartland Award.