Davis Polk partner Ken Lebrun was quoted in Asia Business Law Journal discussing M&A activity in Japan. “So far in 2024, M&A activity in Japan has been robust, with private equity transactions being particularly active,” he said. “You also see ambitious Japanese companies such as Nidec and Dai-ichi Life taking advantage of corporate governance reforms and the METI’s (Ministry of Economy, Trade & Investment) newly published takeover guidelines by commencing unsolicited takeover offers. There have been several significant outbound deal announcements and we are seeing an increasing pipeline of such deals.”

“The demographic issues facing Japan are galvanising Japanese companies across almost all industry sectors to focus on outbound investment,” Ken continued. “The rapidly ageing and declining population means that companies in industries ranging from consumer products and food and beverage to insurance, asset management, manufacturing and home-building all need to invest overseas for growth.”

Ken also noted that there are shifting cultural norms at the company level. “In the past, a common complaint about Japanese companies was that they were not able to move quickly enough to participate in a standard international sales process, or to satisfy a typical international counterparty,” he said. “I believe that many Japanese companies have made significant progress on this front, both by developing their internal talent by engaging in more frequent domestic and international M&A, and also by hiring external talent for key positions in their corporate development and legal functions.”

“Appetite for M&A,” Asia Business Law Journal (August 6, 2024)

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