Build cooperation in Japan

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Build cooperation for M&A in Japan – need to build trust to succeed

by Gerhard Fasol

Business in Japan is much more relationship based, than purely transaction based.

Build cooperation for M&A in Japan – need to build trust to succeed: Traditional Japanese business customs are much more relationship based than transaction based as in the West.

In order to achieve investments or acquisitions, in many cases it is necessary to build trust and cooperation for considerable time, in some cases several years. There are some cases, where companies worked three or even ten years preparing and/or building relationships before an acquisition was successfully concluded.

Examples are SoftBank’s recent acquisition of ARM, which according to Masayoshi Son was at least 10 years in preparation, or Hunhai Precision (Foxconn)’s acquisition of a majority of shares in SHARP, which took several years between Hunhai’s Chairman’s first approach to SHARP. Similarly, the very successful Renault-Nissan partnership developed over time, starting with a mutual minority investment.

We often advise clients to slow down, and carefully develop relationships over time, building trust and mutual understanding. For success, investments and acquisitions in Japan need an approach suited to the particular situation in Japan – the wishes of an overseas acquirer are only one factor, and often need to be adjusted in order to reduce the risks of failure.

We work with our clients to build relationships of trust with Japanese partners – as we have done for more than 20 years, and our founder Gerhard Fasol has done for more than 30 years – since 1984.

M&A and partnering in Japan topics

  1. M&A process
  2. Understand the industry: research
  3. Find and approach partners
  4. Build cooperation
  5. Stakeholders
  6. Due diligence
  7. Finance
  8. Negotiate and close agreements
  9. Post merger
  10. Sale of a company by auction in Japan, or cross-border

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