Japanese Outbound Acquisitions

Shigeru Matsumoto, Professor, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University, earned his Ph.D. from Kobe University. For his doctoral dissertation, he conducted an in-depth study of Japanese cross-border M&A. He also has an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, which he attended on the US Fulbright Program. He has 20 years’ of experience in investment banking and advisory at global institutions, including HSBC (The Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp.), Macquarie Capital, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He has served as an advisor on over 50 Japan-related cross-border M&A transactions in 20 countries, including the US, the UK, France, China, and Vietnam. In 2015, he won the 9th Grand Prize at the Mergers & Acquisition Forum for his recent publication on Japanese cross-border acquisitions.

1. Introduction.- 2. The Five Pitfalls.- 3. The Track Record of Japanese Companies.- 4. The Causes of Failure: Case Studies of Eight failed acquisitions ending in a sale or withdrawal at a loss.- 5. The Nature of Failure: .- 6. Case Studies of Eight Successful Deals that Realized Sustainable Profit Growth after Acquisitions.-  7. A model of M&A -– Lessons from IBM’s Local Company Management.- 8. What Should Be Done to Succeed?.- 9. Three Lessons for Success.