Paloma Industries (Paloma Co., Ltd.)

Who owns Paloma Industries?
The founding Kobayashi family, which has controlled the company since 1911. It operates under the Paloma Rheem Holdings structure formed in October 2023.

Is Paloma Industries publicly traded?
No. It is a private, family owned company with no stock listing.

Does Paloma own Rheem?
Yes. Paloma acquired Rheem Manufacturing in 1988 and it is the group's largest operation, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

What is Paloma's revenue?
Approximately JPY 1.18 trillion in group consolidated sales for the fiscal year ended December 2025, roughly 83 percent generated in the Americas.

Where is Paloma Industries headquartered?
Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, where it was founded in 1911.

How many employees does Paloma have?
Approximately 19,000 across the global group, including Rheem's workforce.

What brands does Paloma own?
Paloma in Japan plus the Rheem constellation globally: Rheem, Ruud, Friedrich, Raypak, Richmond, Eemax, Intergas and Nortek Global HVAC with its licensed lines.

Yuzaburo Kobayashi founded the business in February 1911 in Nagoya's Furukawa-cho district as Kobayashi Gas Electric Appliance Works, early in Japan's transition to gas utilities. Renamed Kobayashi Works in 1931, it passed to the founder's son Shinichi Kobayashi in 1933 and resumed gas appliance production immediately after World War II.

The company adopted the Paloma brand name in 1952 as it expanded into gas stoves, ranges and water heaters for a national market. Paloma Kogyo (manufacturing) and Paloma Co. (sales) were separated in the 1960s, and the company earned Japan's first Good Design award in the gas appliance category in 1965 for a water heater model.

International growth centered on the Rheem relationship: Paloma had supplied tankless technology expertise and acquired the American water heating and HVAC maker in 1988, then progressively added Rheem operations in Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Paloma Vietnam followed to build Asian manufacturing.

In October 2023 the group reorganized under Paloma Rheem Holdings, creating a dual pillar structure of Paloma in Japan and Rheem globally. The group's December 2024 fiscal year was the first full year under the holding company, reporting sales of JPY 1,007.9 billion. December 2025 sales reached approximately JPY 1.18 trillion as North American air conditioning and water heating grew.

The group's sustainability work is led largely through Rheem, which publishes an annual Sustainability Progress Report covering emissions reduction, zero waste to landfill achievements and ENERGY STAR product lines. Paloma in Japan pursues high efficiency gas appliances and hydrogen ready burner research.

Neither entity holds B Corp status or third party ethical certification; reporting remains largely self disclosed.

Paloma has faced periodic product safety actions typical of gas appliance makers in Japan, including water heater recalls in past decades handled through Japanese regulators. Rheem carries routine US CPSC recall activity.

No major scandal or ongoing regulatory dispute defines the group in recent public record.