Japanese buyers are back with a vengeance. Last year Japan Inc spent $45bn on overseas acquisitions, or almost 10 times the deal-flow moving in the opposite direction, according to Thomson Financial. Big-ticket deals include Nippon Sheet Glass’s £2.2bn takeover of Pilkington, its UK peer and Japan Tobacco’s swoop on Gallaher of the UK with a £7.5bn cash takeover, agreed by Gallaher shareholders on Friday.
Those people facilitating deals report a sharp increase in activity. “There’s much more in the works,” says Andrea Farace, co-head of investment banking at Nikko Citigroup.
