Japanese companies announced US $9.5 billion of M&A deals in the UK

Japanese acquisitions in the UK reached $9.5 billion in 2015, the highest level this century, and dwarfing the $0.67 billion recorded for 2014. From the UK to Japan, there were $0.57 billion of M&A deals last year, according to new analysis from Deloitte.

Japanese buyers have also been active outside the UK, managing $67.7 billion of outbound M&A deals globally. This means outbound M&A was responsible for 53% of all of Japan’s M&A (domestic, outbound and inbound), overtaking domestic activity for the first time since the year 2000. This looks set to continue with outbound Japanese M&A already at $5 billion year to date, including the recent offer by Asahi for various Anheuser-Busch InBev beer brands.

Iain Macmillan, head of global M&A at Deloitte, commented: “With Japan expected to adopt negative interest rates, cheaper borrowing costs will fuel more acquisitions outside its own territory. Japanese acquirers are already compelled to look abroad faced with a shrinking home market, compounded by a decline in real earnings and an aging population.

“Last year a series of outbound deals including Nikkei’s US$1.3 billion acquisition of the Financial Times from Pearson, and now Asahi’s acquisition of various iconic beer brands, including one in our own backyard in Greenwich. We estimate that the Nikkei 225 non-financial constituents currently hold $507 billion in cash reserves, the second highest amount after the US corporate sector, so foreign targets hold a considerable appeal.”

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Methodology
Data are based on deal volumes and values in Thomson One Banker and Deloitte analysis, run on 11 February 2016. Note, deal value calculations are based on M&A deals for which value is disclosed – deal values are not disclosed for a significant proportion of M&A deals.

Notes to editors

About Deloitte
In this press release references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte LLP, which is among the country's leading professional services firms.

Deloitte LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”), a UK private company limited by guarantee, whose member firms are legally separate and independent entities. Please see www.deloitte.co.uk/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

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