Previously, the article was about looking back at the trend of M&A deals in Japan in 2022. This article will focus on the trends of the TOP15 M&A deals involving Japanese companies in 2022. (All the following data is researched by RECOF)
The total amount of M&A deals involving Japanese companies from January to December 2022 was JPY 11.4 trillion, which decreased by 31.6% from the previous year. Then, among these TOP 15 deals, 11 of them are “IN-OUT” (deals in foreign countries conducted by Japanese companies) and “OUT-IN” (deals in Japan conducted by foreign companies) cross-border deals. Additionally. as the data below shows, these investing companies made a presence in M&A fields because they conducted six of these cross-border deals.
| Price (JP Million YEN) | Buyer/ Investor | Industry | Seller/ Target Company | Industry | Scheme | Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 671,437 | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts | Finance | Hitachi Transport System | Logistics & Warehouse | Acquisition | OUT-IN |
| 546,720 | Takeda Pharmaceutical | Pharmaceuticals | Nimbus Lakshmi | Service (Pharmaceuticals) | Acquisition | IN-OUT |
| 514,000 | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Electrical machinery | Bungie | Software & IT (Gaming) | Acquisition | IN-OUT |
| 427,674 | Fund advised by Bain Capital | Finance | Evident | Precision machinery | Acquisition | OUT-IN |
| 410,607 | Public Investment Fund | Finance | Nintendo | Other manufacturer | Capital Participation | OUT-IN |
| 310,825 | EIG Global Energy Partners | Finance | Tokyo Gas Australia Pty Ltd | Electricity & Gas | Acquisition | OUT-IN |
| 267,200 | The Yokohama Rubber | Rubber manufacturer | Trelleborg Wheel Systems | Rubber manufacturer | Acquisition | IN-OUT |
| 250,000 | Fortress Investment Group (Subsidiary of Softbank) | Real estate & Hotel | Sogo & Seibu | Department store | Acquisition | IN-IN |
| 230,000 | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts | Finance | Mitsubishi Corp. - UBS Realty Inc. | Finance (Property management) | Acquisition | OUT-IN |
| 200,000 | Bain Capital | Finance | MASH Holdings | Fiber (Fashion) | Acquisition | OUT-IN |
| 193,200 | SMBC Aviation Capital | Service | Goshawk | Service (Aircraft leasing) | Acquisition | IN-OUT |
| 182,457 | Management & Operation Fund managed by Itochu &Japan Industrial Partners(JIP) | Sogo-shosha | Hitachi Construction Machinery | Machinery | Capital Participation | IN-IN |
| 168,319 | Kintetsu Group Holdings | Logistics & Warehouse | Kintetsu World Express | Logistics & Warehouse | Acquisition | IN-IN |
| 136,591 | Nippon Steel Corporation | Steel | Nippon Steel Trading Corporation | Wholesale & Retail | Acquisition | IN-IN |
| 130,000 | Sony Corporation of America | Electrical machinery | Epic Games | Software & IT(Gaming) | Investment Expansion | IN-OUT |
The largest M&A transaction was an acquisition of Hitachi Transport System by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), the oldest US-based PE fund. The total amount of transactions was JPY 671.4 billion. Hitachi Transport System is known as Japan’s largest third-party logistics (3PL) provider, and likewise to Malaysia, they are also providing 3PL to a major retailer. Hitachi, their parent company, has been restructuring its group through M&A, known as “Carve-Out”. Thus, it is justifiable that this and the No.13 deal of Hitachi Construction Machinery might be the final stage of their restructuring. “Carve-Out” is one of the M&A schemes which cut away a part of the business of a company and their subsidiaries.
The second largest transaction was the acquisition of Takeda by Nimbus Lakshmi with a total value of JPY 546.7 billion. Nimbus Lakshmi is a subsidiary of Nimbus Therapeutics, a drug discovery company in the US. Nimbus Lakshmi is now developing a drug candidate for treating “Psoriasis”, a kind of skin disease. In addition to Psoriasis, this drug candidate is also evaluated as a treatment drug for several other autoimmune diseases. It seems that Takeda had decided to acquire Nimbus Lakshmi because they believe this drug candidate will become a major product following its current flagship product – “Entyvio (for ulcerative colitis)”. After Takeda acquired Shire, which is a leading pharmaceutical company in Ireland, in 2019, Takeda became one of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies. But at the same time, since it has held a large amount of debt, they have been conducting Carve-Out its non-core business, such as its consumer healthcare business known as Alinamin to reduce its debt. Meanwhile, they have been acquiring start-up companies like this acquisition of Nimbus Lakshmi, to focus their resource on profitable prescription drugs and acquiring new drug candidates.