Mergers and Acquisitions

Abstract

About a decade ago, when the first edition of this book was written, the alternative of actually buying up or buying into a Japanese company hardly existed. Indeed, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were regarded as almost a dirty trick, the sort of thing devious foreigners might do with one another, but hardly something that Japanese should engage in amongst themselves. And the idea of a foreign company taking over a Japanese one was considered even more heinous, like a second coming of the “black ships.” Even foreigners thought such a thing was a bit improbable.