In recent years, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have become increasingly important tools for expanding businesses globally. This has led to a rise in research on M&As for international firms (e.g.,
Xiao, 2022
;
Brown et al., 2023
;
Brózda-Wilamek, 2023
;
Chen et al., 2023
;
Song et al., 2023
;
Yang et al., 2023
;
Guo & Cheng, 2024
;
Huang et al., 2024
;
Khan & Kalisz, 2024
;
Kogut et al., 2024
;
Kollruss, 2024
;
Landoni, 2024
;
Wang & Schweizer, 2024
;
Cheng & Dai, 2025
;
Reddy et al., 2025
). Similarly, for Japanese companies, cross-border M&As have been a significant measure in their business strategy. This trend is driven by various factors, including the desire to expand into new markets, access new technologies, and achieve economies of scale.
One key development in this area is the growing interest from foreign investors in Japanese companies. This has led to an increase in the number of cross-border M&As, as foreign companies seek to capitalize on Japan’s developed economy and well-established industries. Another important trend is the rise of strategic partnerships between Japanese and foreign companies. These partnerships allow companies to share resources, expertise, and technology, leading to strengthened competitiveness.
However, the question arises, “Have M&As in Japan truly globalized recently?” Clarifying this matter is crucial. Motivated by this, the present study provides an overview of the latest trends in cross-border M&As related to Japan using up-to-date data. Subsequently, we discuss whether cross-border M&As in Japan have truly globalized recently and what is important for the future. Our most significant contributions are the numerous beneficial interpretations and helpful implications derived from our findings.
In the rest of this paper, Section 2 explains our data and methods. Section 3 documents our findings and discussion, and Section 4 concludes.
2. Data and Methods
This section describes our data and methodology. The present study utilizes data on M&As in Japan. All the data on inbound (out-in), outbound (in-out), and domestic (in-in) M&As involving Japan are sourced from RECOF Corporation.
In this study, we will examine the data and analyze the trends and variations graphically. Our analysis will primarily focus on the years 2018 to 2024. Subsequently, we will derive numerous beneficial interpretations and helpful implications from our findings.
3. Findings and Discussion3.1. Findings
This section presents our findings. First, we displayed the transaction numbers of cross-border M&As involving Japan from 2018 to 2024 in
Table 1
and visualized these transaction numbers in
Figure 1
. Based on this data, we can see that recently for Japan, in-out M&As decreased, while out-in and in-in M&As increased. We also exhibited the composition ratios of these transaction numbers in
Figure 2
. As seen in this figure, in-out M&As noticeably decreased from 2018 to 2024.
Furthermore,
Table 2
displays the more detailed transaction numbers of in-out cross-border M&As involving Japan in 2022 and 2024. These transactions are visualized in
Figure 3
and
Figure 4
. The table and figures demonstrate that Japanese in-out M&As targeting US firms slightly increased from 2022 to 2024. Additionally,
Table 3
presents the transaction numbers of both in-out and out-in cross-border M&As between Japan and major Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, visualizing these transactions in
Figure 5
and
Figure 6
. The table and figures indicate that Singapore is the primary country for Japanese in-out and out-in M&As in ASEAN countries consistently from 2020 to 2024.
Table 1. Transaction numbers of cross-border M&As involving Japan from 2018 to 2024.
Year
In-out
Out-in
In-in
2018
777
259
2814
2019
826
262
3000
2021
625
318
3337
2022
625
334
3345
2024
665
333
3702
In-out: Cross-border M&As, where Japanese firms are the buyers; Out-in: Cross-border M&As, where foreign firms are the buyers; In-in: Japanese domestic M&As.
In-out: Cross-border M&As, where Japanese firms are the buyers; Out-in: Cross-border M&As, where foreign firms are the buyers; In-in: Japanese domestic M&As.Figure 1. Evolution of cross-border M&As involving Japan from 2018 to 2024.
In-out: Cross-border M&As, where Japanese firms are the buyers; Out-in: Cross-border M&As, where foreign firms are the buyers; In-in: Japanese domestic M&As.Figure 2. Composition ratios of cross-border M&As involving Japan from 2018 to 2024.
Table 2. Transaction numbers of in-out cross-border M&As involving Japan in 2022 and 2024.
Panel A. 2022
Panel B. 2024
USA
183
USA
213
Singapore
48
Singapore
51
UK
36
UK
36
India
29
India
33
Vietnam
28
Germany
30
Indonesia
23
Australia
30
Germany
21
France
24
Chinese Mainland
21
Vietnam
21
Australia
21
Chinese Mainland
20
Taiwan Region
17
South Korea
19
In-out: Cross-border M&As, where Japanese firms are the buyers.
Transaction numbers of cross-border M&As, in which Japanese firms are the buyers, are displayed.Figure 3. In-out cross-border M&As involving Japan in 2022.
Transaction numbers of cross-border M&As, in which Japanese firms are the buyers, are displayed.Figure 4. In-out cross-border M&As involving Japan in 2024.
Table 3. Transaction numbers of in-out and out-in cross-border M&As between Japan and major ASEAN countries from 2020 to 2024.
Panel A. In-out
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Singapore
27
46
48
42
51
Vietnam
23
22
28
19
21
Thailand
11
8
16
11
15
Indonesia
9
8
23
18
17
Philippines
4
7
6
8
4
Malaysia
8
12
11
12
13
Panel B. Out-in
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Singapore
13
20
26
17
28
Vietnam
0
0
2
1
3
Thailand
7
4
3
3
0
Indonesia
1
5
0
3
1
Philippines
0
0
0
0
2
Malaysia
1
3
2
0
2
In-out: Cross-border M&As, where Japanese firms are the buyers; Out-in: Cross-border M&As, where foreign firms are the buyers.
Transaction numbers of cross-border M&As, in which Japanese firms are the buyers, are displayed.Figure 5. Evolution of in-out cross-border M&As between Japan and major ASEAN countries from 2020 to 2024.
Transaction numbers of cross-border M&As, in which foreign firms are the buyers, are displayed. No graph indicates zero transaction numbers.Figure 6. Evolution of out-in cross-border M&As between Japan and major ASEAN countries from 2020 to 2024.
3.2. Discussion
As documented in the previous section, our key findings on the latest trends in cross-border M&As in Japan show a decrease in M&A transactions where Japan is the buyer, an increase in M&A transactions where foreign companies are the buyers, and an increase in M&A transactions between domestic Japanese companies.
It can be said from the above that Japanese M&As have not experienced significant globalization in recent years. We will delve into the background of this trend. Firstly, the increase in cross-border M&As, where foreign companies were the buyers, can be attributed to the weak yen and the low price-to-book ratios (PBRs) of Japanese companies. These factors have made Japanese companies more affordable for overseas buyers. In light of this, Japanese companies will need to enhance their PBRs by improving their own performance and simultaneously implementing effective takeover defense.
Secondly, the reason for the increase in domestic M&As between Japanese companies is the lack of human resources to adapt to globalization and integrate and adjust the corporate culture after acquisitions between Japanese and overseas companies. Compared to domestic M&As, cross-border M&As require more difficult post-acquisition adjustments, so it is necessary to make detailed predictions about the post-acquisition situation and execute them carefully. There are also cases where Japanese domestic companies easily carry out domestic M&As to help each other or to prevent overseas acquisitions, and true globalization of Japanese companies may be getting further away.
4. Conclusion
This paper explored the latest trends in cross-border M&As in Japan and examined whether they have truly become globalized. The key findings from our data analysis are as follows. Firstly, the number of in-out cross-border M&As in Japan has recently decreased. Secondly, the number of out-in cross-border M&As in Japan has increased. Thirdly, the number of in-in M&As in Japan has also seen an increase. Moreover, our analysis demonstrated that the most targeted firms for Japanese in-out cross-border M&As are US firms, followed by Singaporean firms.
Our analysis has revealed a clear trend in recent cross-border M&A deals involving Japan, with foreign companies being the buyers rather than Japanese companies. Additionally, there has been a significant rise in M&A deals between Japanese domestic companies. Consequently, we can conclude that, overall, cross-border M&A activity in Japan is becoming less globalized. We believe that these findings on the latest trends in cross-border M&As in Japan and the matters discussed in our current study should be beneficial for not only academicians but also industry practitioners.
Our future work includes exploring additional factors that could explain the trends in cross-border M&As in Japan, as well as conducting industry or sector analysis within the country.
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful for the continued invitations from this journal. The author would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their supportive comments on this paper. Additionally, the author appreciates the financial support from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research and the Chuo University Personal Research Grant. Furthermore, I would like to extend my gratitude to all the editors of this journal for their kind attention to this paper.
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