• Toppan to acquire Swedish Assa Abloy’s Citizen ID business - Toppan will acquire the Citizen ID business of HID Global Corporation, which is in turn owned by Sweden’s Assa Abloy. Although Assa Abloy is Swedish, HID Global is headquartered in the USA, and Toppan say they are acquiring it to expand their global security business in  South America, Africa, and other regions. HID Global has...
  • Nippon Paint acquires US-Swiss specialty chemicals firm AOC for $2.3bn - Nippon Paint is acquiring AOC from private equity firm Lone Star, with the deal expected to finalise in the first half of next year. AOC is a global manufacturer of coatings, colorants, and composite resins. It was known as AOC Aliansys until 2018 – a combination of US based AOC and Switzerland based Aliansys.  Lone...
  • Nippon Express acquires German logistics company Simon Hegele - Japanese logistics company Nippon Express has acquired German logistics company Simon Hegele Group. Simon Hegele Group has almost 2,800 employees in around 50 locations, mostly in Germany but also including the UK and Turkey. Simon Hegele is to continue with its current structure and management. This adds to the acquisitions that Nippon Express made in...
  • Japan’s Wacoal acquires UK’s Bravissimo - Japanese women’s underwear maker Wacoal Holdings will acquire UK headquartered Bravissimo Group for £45.7 ($61.3 million). Bravissimo is a retailer specialising in larger sizes, with both stores and an e-commerce side. It  is mainly focused on the UK market, employing 458 people. Wacoal acquired British lingerie manufacturer Eveden in 2012 which manufactures brands such as...
  • UK second largest recipient of Japanese overseas M&A deals – but far behind USA - We were surprised to see that the UK was second only to the USA as the location  for Japanese overseas M&A deals in 2023, according to Recof,  as the number and scale of deals we were aware of in the UK seemed to have died down considerably over the past 10 years. Then we looked...
  • Japanese automotive supplier Denso acquires manufacturing license from British green hydrogen technology company Ceres - DENSO Corporation has signed a manufacturing license agreement with Ceres Power Holdings, a UK based developer of solid oxide cell stack technology. DENSO aims to advance the early practical application of Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells that produce hydrogen through water electrolysis. Denso has traditionally been a supplier to Toyota, a strong advocate of hydrogen fuel....
  • Mitsui establishes electromagnetic steel sheet processing company for EVs and power plants in Poland - Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co has announced that it will establish an electromagnetic steel sheet processing company, Polskamit Steel in Skarwimiez in southern Poland. Polskamit will process, stock, and inspect electromagnetic steel sheets used in motor cores for electric vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), as well as...
  • Pernille Rudlin speaking on navigating workplace harassment and purpose at 24th September event in London - Pernille Rudlin will be speaking (in Japanese) on “Navigating Workplace Harassment and Purpose” on 24th September 2024 16:00 in London as part of a free HR seminar with Centre People and Lewis Silkin. You can use the QR code or email address as below to register. Last updated by Pernille Rudlin at 2024-09-02.
  • Japanese shipping company NYK to invest in British-Irish sea urchin farming and biodiversity venture - Japanese shipping company NYK is investing in Urchinomics, a British-Irish venture which will feed up starving sea urchins so they can be sold for food – and also support biodiversity. Kelp forests on the seabed are being eaten up by an overabundance of sea urchins. Kelp forests are “blue” carbon as they absorb and store...
  • Japanese car companies consolidate into two camps – in the UK too - Recent reports that Mitsubishi Motors is to join the Honda-Nissan alliance show that Japanese car companies are forming two camps – Toyota and Not-Toyota. According to the Nikkei, Mitsubishi Motors, which is 34% owned by Nissan, will work with Honda and Nissan to finalise the details of their partnership on electric vehicle development, including standardising...

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