Raw Japan
Slices of Japanese business, politics and life
from Summit Notebook:
Expect action in Japanese M&A
After falling off a cliff at the start of this year as the global financial crisis gripped, mergers and acquisitions by Japanese companies overseas are likely to pick up again in the second half of this year, according to boutique Japanese M&A advisory firm Recof Corp.
There won't be a flood of deals, Recof President Hikari Imai says, but the ones there are, are likely to be chunky as Japanese companies expand their frontiers beyond domestic markets where growth prospects are limited.
Geographically the focus is likely to be Asia -- China, India in particular and possibly the Philippines or Australia. And the types of companies looking abroad will broaden as well, Imai told the Reuters Japan Investment Summit.
Recof expects Japanese power utilities, paper, food and beverage and retailing firms to look abroad at markets where they can put their advanced technology and inventory control systems to use.
from Summit Notebook:
Signs of life in Japanese private equity
The conventional wisdom is that private equity is comatose in Japan, at best, with some major firms leaving Tokyo, deal numbers sliding and even old Japan hands like Advantage Partners seen as looking to exit mature investments.
Yet Richard Folsom, Representative Partner of Advantage, tells a very different story with deals in the pipeline, finance on tap and some ripe fruit about to be picked -- even if his firm has yet to announce a new investment deal this year.
