Our group strives to build appropriate relationships with all parties concerned with our M&A support activities, spanning clients, alliance partners, employees, shareholders, regional communities and the global environment.
We strive through M&A support activities to solve clients’ management problems and increase client satisfaction.
Solving management problems
Our group’s M&A support services help with solutions for company succession issues and reorganisation of industries, in the process of which both buyer and seller problems are solved, bringing merits to all parties.
To give an example, an owner who is CEO of the company being sold might then be freed from the need for personal guarantees and extending collateral, able instead to enjoy a happy retirement or stay on to manage the company with peace of mind. From the selling company’s point of view the succession issue will have been resolved and it becomes possible to continue and develop the business with the existing workforce, providing a growth opportunity for the new group.
Also, with the acquiring company having found a solution for its growth strategy it can break loose from its constraints, and new opportunities to engage are born for its workforce through collaboration projects with the new subsidiary.
Resolution of social problems through M&A
Both parties will gain in strength through the effects of a complementary relationship and synergies, enabling increased productivity.
Then the local community will be invigorated, clear from a negative chain of events that may have occurred in the absence of a successful M&A transaction, and societal value will be created.
Inverse correlation between CEO age and company results; profit margin higher for companies with a change in owner
Acquired companies labour productivity improvement was superior to that of independently owned ones
Increasing client satisfaction
Our company ranks as the top specialist M&A support company in Japan both by size and results, and we have the most information about M&A. We always strive to increase client satisfaction levels, with systems in place to optimise matching together companies wishing to acquire with those wishing to sell on the basis of similar corporate cultures and large synergy effects.
We arrange formal signing ceremonies upon the conclusion of M&A transactions, which encourage the success of M&A.
Also, we analyse the results of client satisfaction surveys and the like to optimise reviews of our service processes, and have in place a client support desk to offer courteous help.
Additionally, through links with our highly specialised M&A group companies we aim to raise client satisfaction to even higher levels.
After the successful completion of M&A transaction, we hold closing ceremony.
Increasing the quality of our work
Our company seeks to be the leading global specialist M&A support company in the quality of our work. A wealth of practical knowledge lies behind our top position as an advisor in completed transactions and we also make great efforts to provide training for our advisors. Moreover, the high quality of our work is underpinned by standardisation and implementing appropriate controls for business processes.
In our company there are over 40 qualified specialists including lawyers, certified public accountants, tax accountants and notaries who work as M&A consultants and in other roles to help in an appropriate and timely way with legal, accounting and tax matters. We have sufficient depth of in-house expertise that we rarely need to rely on external advisors.
Strengthening various related services and increasing coverage
Our group has formed subsidiaries for M&A specialist support activities such as company valuation and PMI, enabling us to offer highly specialised M&A related services. We have been working hard to broaden our scope of services, establishing an online matching service for small companies and increasing coverage for medium-sized and overseas companies.
Nihon M&A Center becoming a hub for specialized high quality group companies
Pursuing innovation
Before our company was founded SME M&A existed primarily to rescue companies from extinction or came about in response to regulatory or permitting requirements. We became a pioneer in our industry with our revolutionary development of M&A to meet the new need to solve problems for companies lacking a successor.
We formed an information network to enable effective and efficient M&A activity. We also created ways of standardising company valuation and many kinds of documentation to enable efficient and appropriate information exchange with alliance partners.
In the future too we shall provide benefits to our clients and society through pioneering innovation.
Together with our partners
It is thanks to the collaboration of our alliance partners that we are able to carry out our M&A activities effectively.
Besides jointly conducting marketing activities for new M&A candidates with all our alliance partners, we provide coaches for training, speakers for client seminars and share information about projects.
Partners firms can also make use of an examination system for M&A expert qualifications which we jointly operate with Kinzai Institute for Financial Affairs to raise employee standards for business succession planning and conducting M&A.
Regional banks
We have partnerships with 95 of the 99 domestic regional banks (about 90% as of as of Dec. 2023) and work in alliance.
We provide the administrative office for the National Financial M&A Study Group, members of which are from the regional banks, the mission being to improve M&A skills and exchange M&A information. We organize an annual Bank of the Year award system for the regional banks with the aim of helping to promote M&A activity.
We are pleased to take on M&A trainees in our company as secondees from the regional banks, the cumulative total of which is around 400. Additionally, we send some of our employees on secondment to regional banks, sometimes in this novel way actively supporting promotion of M&A activity at regional banks.
The Shinkin banks
We have partnerships with 212 of the 254 Shinkin banks (about 80% as of as of Dec. 2023) and work in alliance.
We have an alliance partnership with Shinkin Capital, which is the subsidiary of Shinkin Central Bank responsible for M&A, and with Shinkin banks throughout Japan.
We periodically hold a networking forum for members of the Shinkin family of banks to increase M&A skills and exchange information. Also, we have created an award system for Shinkin banks which have successfully engaged in M&A.
Accountancy firms
We have partnerships with 1,023 accountancy firms (as of as of Dec. 2023) and work in alliance.
These accounting firms gain full membership of the Merger and Acquisition Association of Japan, whose activity includes periodically arranging international M&A conferences, general assemblies for members and regional branch meetings for members so that participants can gain M&A skills and exchange information.
We provide several kinds of support to promote M&A activities including training programmes (seminars for future leaders, sales off-sites, coaching on strategies for succession plans) and distribution of posters and pamphlets as information tools.
We also have an "M&A concierge" desk staffed by people helping support activities of our M&A consultants, strengthening the bond between the member firms and our company.
Large financial institutions
We have alliances with the large financial institutions such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Nomura Securities and Daiwa Securities. These large financial institutions have their own investment banking divisions which are active in M&A, but we collaborate through their introductions to us of SME M&A opportunities.
We also actively send secondees to work with them and there has been a rapid increase in the volume of mandates as a result.
Together with our shareholders
Our group aims for the long-term increase of shareholder value
How we increase shareholder value
Our goal is to become the top global integrated M&A company. We strive for the long-term increase of shareholder value through the long-term growth of completed transactions, sales and profit.
Four big corporate targets are profitability, stability, growth and sociality. We constantly seek evidence of these in our own company and for our clients.
We look carefully at ROE as an indicator of the increase in shareholder value, albeit that we do not have any fixed target. In FY 2019 our ROE was 32.6%, ranking us among the elite of listed companies in Japan.
Shareholder return
We have continuously paid a dividend since the second year of our foundation. We have set the dividend pay-put ratio target at 40%, which places us above the average for domestic listed companies, and we actively work to provide a generous return to our shareholders. This is manifested in dividend payment levels rising in tandem with the increase in profit.
We have also introduced a shareholder benefit plan.
Timely and appropriate IR activity
In order to engage constructively with our shareholders, we have adopted the following practices.
Respect for legal, stock exchange and internal rules governing disclosure of information.
Publication of quarterly information reports on our website and hosting explanatory meetings with institutional investors at which a representative director presents.
IR activities overseas by a representative director in order to increase dialogue with foreign investors.
Forums every year for individual investors to hear explanations directly
Appropriate feedback on opinions and requests learnt through conversations with shareholders is provided to management, senior executives and members of relevant divisions.
