Financial Times (September 8)
“Dealmakers salivate over Japan Inc succession survey,” reads the headline. A survey on corporate succession by Japan’s Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is being conducted on all first and second section TSE listed companies. The survey “is primarily an attempt to establish just how seriously Japan’s chief executives are taking the country’s corporate governance code a year after it was laid down,” but it may also reveal firms that, lacking a suitable successor, are open to acquisition by foreign companies.
Tags: Acquisition, Dealmakers, Governance, Japan Inc., METI, Succession, Survey, TSE
Financial Times (March 16)
“Some look at surging domestic mergers and a record Y10tn of outbound deals in 2015 and are convinced that the ministry, now known as Meti (the ministry of economy, trade and industry), has indeed recaptured some of its old magic. To them, recent talks to merge the PC units of Fujitsu and Toshiba, and Osaka Steel’s takeover of rival Tokyo Kohtetsu, show the ministry is running Japan Inc once again.”
Tags: Domestic mergers, Fujitsu, Japan Inc., METI, Osaka Steel, Outbound deals, Surging, Tokyo Kohtetsu, Toshiba
The Economist (February 13)
Japan’s corporate-governance code emphasizes “shareholder rights and the duty of outside board directors to promote them.” This means Sharp’s external directors will fear “being sued by shareholders if they opted for the INCJ’s much lower bid,” perhaps more than they fear pressure from METI and others to favor the Japanese bid. A deal with “Foxconn would show that Japan is changing its attitude to outsiders. One reason it may come off is that as a failing firm, Sharp matters less for national pride. A foreign takeover of a more successful firm would be different.”
Tags: Corporate governance, Directors, Foxconn, INCJ, Japan, METI, Shareholder rights, Sharp
Financial Times (August 9)
“More regulatory foresight could perhaps have averted the nuclear meltdowns caused by the earthquake and tsunami in March.” The Financial Times approves of government plans to overhaul nuclear regulation in Japan, shifting regulatory functions from METI to break up the “damaging conflict of interest” that compromised safety.
Tags: Government, Japan, METI, Nuclear meltdown, Regulation
