Japan posts record number of M&A deals as restructuring booms
Value of transactions reaches 12-year high with upbeat pace expected in 2020
近時、日立製作所の子会社売却・事業売却に向けた動きが加速しています。2018年３月、「日立製作所は子会社数を900社（当時）から500社程度に絞り込む方針」という日本経済新聞の記事に多くの読者が驚きました。
カーナビのクラリオンを売却
クラリオンは2019年3月末、自動車部品大手のフランス・フォルシアの完全子会社となった。これに伴い上場企業としての56年の歴史に終止符を打った。
日立化成
日立化成、日立製作所、昭和電工の3社で日立化成株式の売却条件を契約書に落とす手続きなどを進めていると見られます。昭和電工による単独買収では、1兆円規模の資金が必要と言われており、昭和電工の財務体質の悪化なども懸念されています。
日立化成はライフサイエンス、畜鉛電池、自動車ブレーキなど非中核事業が多く、昭和電工とのシナジーが少ない事業も存在するため、今後一部事業を切り出しての売却なども考えられます。
日立金属
一部報道によると、日立製作所サイドはFAを選定中。来年以降、売却手続きが始まる可能性がある。日立金属に先立って、日立金属の子会社で北米で鉄キャスティングを行うWaupaca Foundryの売却を行う可能性も。
2019年10月29日、日立金属は2020年3月期の連結最終損益を下方修正。従来予測の285億円の黒字から470億円の赤字に修正しました。佐藤社長は「非中核、低収益事業の売却も前倒しで判断したい」と語っており、日立金属そのものの業績改善も待ったなしの状況となっています。
日立製作所はゴールドマン・サックスをFAに起用し、M&Aによる売却先候補にIMを開示するなど売却検討を開始。ヘルスケア領域に強い英ファンド ペルミラなどが関心を示しているのではないかと日本経済新聞などから報道されています。
また、日立製作所のヘルスケアBUのポートフォリオ戦略について、以前からディスカッションを続けてきたと言われている富士フィルムも有力な売却候補と言われています
KKRやカーライルのファンド勢もGEやシーメンスなどの海外競合勢は有力候補ですが、キャノンや東芝メディカルの国内競合勢は規模やアンチトラストの面から日立製作所の画像診断機器事業のM&Aは難しいと見られています。
Japan hit a record tally of domestic merger and acquisition deals in 2019 after Hitachi agreed to the $4.5bn sale of one of its largest subsidiaries and the country’s conglomerates continue a historic restructuring.
Companies have made over 2,840 deals so far this year, according to research group Recof, topping the previous record of 2,814 transactions set in 2018.
With the deals announced on Wednesday, Japanese businesses have spent more than ¥6tn ($55bn) on buying domestic rivals, the highest level since 2007 before the global financial crisis hit.
Since the start of 2018, corporate Japan has completed about 200 domestic M&A transactions per month — a pace driven both by conglomerates restructuring their huge portfolios of subsidiaries and by companies with elderly founders using M&A deals to solve a succession crisis.
Hitachi sold its chemicals and diagnostic imaging businesses — once considered “core” to the giant conglomerate — to two rival domestic groups.
The prospect of owning a business like Hitachi Chemical drew bids from several potential buyers, including private equity groups that see Japan’s slimming conglomerates as rich with opportunity.
The deal is part of a long-term effort by Hitachi to either buy in or sell off listed subsidiaries to smooth out issues of corporate governance. In 2008, Hitachi had 22 listed subsidiaries. After the latest deals, it is left with just three.
One Hitachi Chemical shareholder said the hotly competitive environment in which the dealmakers arrived at a final price was even more significant than the new M&A record. The process, the shareholder added, represents a level of price competition previously rare in domestic deals.
Showa Denko offered to pay up to ¥964bn to acquire Hitachi Chemical, beating rival bids from Nitto Denko, Bain Capital and Carlyle. Its final offer of ¥4,630 per share was higher than the ¥4,534 it offered in mid-November and represented a premium of 133 per cent to its share price on March 8 before media reports of the sale surfaced.
Fujifilm Holdings, which lost out against Canon in buying Toshiba’s medical unit in 2016, also agreed to acquire Hitachi’s diagnostic imaging business for ¥179bn to expand its healthcare business.
In April, Omron sold its automotive electronics business to Nidec for ¥100bn to focus on its healthcare and factory automation businesses.
Bankers say the trend is likely to continue into 2020 as conglomerates face pressure to simplify their businesses for investors. “CEOs understand that they need to reshuffle their portfolio and focus on growth areas,” said one senior M&A banker in Tokyo.
Last month, Toshiba launched offers to buy out three of its listed subsidiaries as part of a big reorganisational effort following months of mounting pressure from its shareholders to increase its corporate value.
That in turn triggered a rare takeover battle as optical glass specialist Hoya last week made a surprise $1.4bn unsolicited bid for microchip equipment maker NuFlare — a listed Toshiba subsidiary for which Toshiba had itself made an agreed offer.