The Tokyo Stock Exchange is to draw up new corporate takeover guidelines that will make it easier for listed companies to be acquired via unsolicited bids. FDI in Japan - at just 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product in 2006 - pales in comparison to other developed markets.
While the new rules would make it easier for MNCs to acquire Japanese companies, observers have cautioned that too much optimism would be misguided. “Obviously any opening up of the market to MNCs will be looked seriously because the size of the prize is so big. Agencies, like MNCs, would welcome the news,” said Ogilvy GBC president Mark Blair, who previously headed Ogilvy Japan.
“However, succeeding in Japan is much more complex than just being able to do business. It is complex, time-consuming, costly, and requires a lot of experience before companies tend to be successful.”
Blair added that the possibility that the new measures are a political ploy could not be ruled out.
“The Government is so weak right now that a fortress Japan approach just won’t wash with global investors.
“Japan has a record of vacillating between opening and closing its markets.”
Japan moves to revive MNC interest
TOKYO - Moves to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) in Japan may lead to MNC brands taking another look at a market which many have put on hold - thanks to difficult economic conditions and the contrasting appeal of countries like India and China.
