In the first half of 2026, mergers and acquisitions of Japanese companies by overseas firms rose 27.5 percent year on year to 232 deals, a record high. Overall M&A involving Japanese companies grew 5.1 percent to 2,647 deals, of which domestic deals between Japanese firms increased 5.3 percent to 2,106, while overseas acquisitions by Japanese companies fell 8.3 percent to 309. Against a backdrop of a historically weak yen, foreign investors point to Japanese companies looking undervalued, and deals by foreign investment firms jumped 47.3 percent in value terms to 3.8255 trillion yen. Notable cases include Nippon Sheet Glass receiving an investment of about 165 billion yen from Apollo Global Management, and KKR aiming to take Taiyo Holdings private through a buyout worth roughly 500 billion yen. In political circles, moves are emerging to debate responses to activists, with a Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers' group proposing stricter rules on shareholder proposal rights.
Nippon Sheet Glass Company, LimitedNippon Sheet Glass received a 165 billion yen investment from Apollo Global Management, a foreign investment firm, reflecting undervaluation and M&A interest.