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Each year we reveal the best capital markets transactions and investment banks in Japan. We begin with M&A and equity awards.
BEST M&A
Toshiba's US$2.3 billion acquisition of Landis+Gyr and sale of 40% of Landis+Gyr for US$680 million to Innovation Network Corporation of Japan
Advisers to Toshiba: J.P. Morgan
Advisers to Landis+Gyr: Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lazard
Advisers to INCJ: UBS
The boom in Japanese outbound mergers and acquisitions is fuelled by a host of factors, from a stagnant economy and ageing population at home, to the irresistible buying opportunities offered by the high yen, now including assets offloaded by European banks.
In terms of national importance, few Japanese acquisitions can match that of Landis+Gyr, the world's biggest maker of'smart meters,' by electrical giant Toshiba for US$2.3 billion.
The tsunami that followed the March 11 Great East Japanese Earthquake caused a reactor meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant run by Asia's biggest electric power company Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco). It prompted the closure of almost every other nuclear reactor in Japan, meaning that the country faces years of power shortages.
Managing energy efficiently is now a national priority. This means converting to grids that use computers, sensors and two-way communications to gather data on electricity usage, so that utilities can better match consumption with generation.
Smart grids need smart meters, and research firm Berg predicts that Europe will have 11.4 million installed by 2015. The Nihon Keizai reported recently that Tepco plans to spend about Yen 200 billion (US$2.6 billion) on installing 17 million smart meters in customer households by March 2019. Japanese and foreign companies will be invited to tender for the contract, according to the Nikkei.
"Landis+Gyr was one of several possible target companies on Toshiba's radar screen," Satoshi Yano, executive director of J.P Morgan's technology, media & telecom group in Tokyo, tells Asiamoney.
The Swiss company was owned by private equity investors, and after more than five years, they were looking for an exit. "We know this asset would be available eventually," adds Yano, who led the deal execution.
Toshiba had bet heavily on robust growth in nuclear power, paying US$4.16 billion for a 77% stake in Westinghouse bought from British Nuclear Fuels in 2006, but after the Fukushima...