NYK on the acquisition trail
Stolt-Nielsen has confirmed it will sell 50% of its stake in its LNG bunkering and small-scale specialist Avenir LNG to Japanese shipowner NYK. NYK has also expanded its dry bulk business by taking full control of Norway’s Saga Welco, an open-hatch bulker specialist. NYK Holding Europe (NHE) will acquire Westfal-Larsen’s 50% stake in Tongsberg-based Saga Welco.
Japan-owned National Car Parks collapses
The UK company National Car Parks has gone into administration. It was acquired by Japanese company Park24 as a majority owner and the Development Bank of Japan in 2017 from Australia’s Macquarie Group. Employee levels peaked in 2018/9 at 1,181 but turnover halved during the pandemic and never recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Park24 is a major parking operator in Japan, most known for its Time brand. Presumably it was hoping National Car Parks was an opportunity for global growth, possibly with a view to expanding EV charging and car clubs to NCP properties. However servicing debt became unsustainable with lower turnover, fixed costs and reduced profit.
Nippon Sheet Glass in talks to be acquired by US fund Apollo
NSG acquired the UK’s Pilkington in 2006, spending 3 billion pounds ($3.98 billion at current rates). As Pilkington was larger, and more global than NSG, it was seen as a reverse takeover. Despite restructuring after the 2008 financial crisis, NSG continued to make losses over the past twenty years, due to a sales slump in the European market and competition from China. The interest on the debt incurred from the Pilkington purchase had become a heavy burden on the company. Pilkington had 2,353 employees in the UK in 2016 and now has 1,600, out of around 12,000 employees in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region – a similar level to around 10 years ago.
Fujitsu to double European defence employees to 2,000
The search for alternatives to US IT suppliers and the need to increase defence spending across Europe has prompted Fujitsu to plan on sending 1,000 staff (the Nikkei Asia article implies from Japan rather than recruiting locally) to Belgium, Germany and other NATO countries over the next few years.
SMFG to acquire Jefferies?
Japanese financial group SMFG considering acquiring US investment bank Jefferies – which has over 1200 employees in its European HQ in London and offices in Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Dubai, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Warsaw, Zurich
Japanese style convenience stores may be coming to Europe
“Consumer sentiment in Europe approaches that of Japanese, with a strong focus on food quality,” said 7-Eleven CEO Dacus + “there is a strong demand to purchase high-quality food at affordable prices” https://asia.nikkei.com/editor-s-picks/interview/7-eleven-parent-eyes-13bn-investment-in-overseas-expansion
Japanese food sector continues to go global
Japan’s Zensho Holdings has expanded its European footprint with the acquisition via its UK subsidiary Wonderfield Group of Polish food group Sushi & Food Factor – a leading Polish producer of packaged sushi and convenience food products supplying to 15 countries in Europe. In 2025, Wonderfield opened a new state-of-the-art production facility in West London, to supply sushi and convenience products to retail partners across the UK.
Nikon divests Mark Roberts Motion Control after 10 years
Nikon has agreed to sell camera robotics specialist MRMC to UK investment firm Blandford Capital in what looks to be a Management Buy Out. Nikon acquired MRMC in 2016 and it has been struggling to make a profit over the past ten years. It employs just over 100 people in the UK.
Bridgestone divests Exhaust, Tyres and Batteries
Bridgestone has sold its 2018 acquisition of UK company Exhaust, Tyres and Batteries to Oak Tyres. The company has 4 warehouses across the UK and employs around 500 people.
For more content like this, subscribe to the free Rudlin Consulting Newsletter. 最新の在欧日系企業の状況については無料の月刊Rudlin Consulting ニューズレターにご登録ください。
