(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Mizuho Financial Group, which vaulted to the top spot among Japan's mergers advisers this year by working with Japan Post Holdings Co and Itochu Corp, plans to build on that position by hiring bankers in the US and Asia.
As well as recruiting abroad, the company will consider moving employees from Japan, said Atsushi Yamamoto, who becomes head of M&A advisory at Mizuho Securities Co on April 1. It will also step up cooperation with HSBC Holdings Plc and Evercore Partners Inc on cross-border mergers business, he said.
Mizuho is seeking to capitalise on Japan Inc's increasing appetite for overseas takeovers. Japanese companies have spent $39bn on acquisitions abroad in 2015, the quickest start to a year on record, as they shrug off a weaker yen to expand in faster-growing markets, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
"Company managers in Japan are crossing the bridge when they find it, despite the weakening yen," Yamamoto, 49, said in an interview in Tokyo. "They understand the need to go overseas and raise corporate value." Mizuho has about 100 M&A bankers globally, including 80 in Japan. It's seeking to increase the number of staff in the US and Asia that work with companies in industries including energy, health care and telecommunications, Yamamoto said, declining to elaborate.
The firm is ranked No. 1 among financial advisers in Japan this year, up from eighth for all of 2014, data complied by Bloomberg show. Nomura Holdings Inc is second, followed by Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co Mizuho is also top in cross-border deals, the data show.
As well as boosting staff, Mizuho is working with partners abroad to secure deals. It teamed up with Gresham Partners, a Australian advisory boutique, to advise state-owned Japan Post on its $5bn purchase of Australia's Toll Holdings. The deal, announced in February, was the first that the two firms worked on together since they formed a partnership in 2010.
"People often say Mizuho is behind the bulge bracket for cross-border deals," said Yamamoto. "But this deal shows we can handle large transactions when we team up with an independent M&A boutique abroad, making the most of our domestic platform." Mizuho formed a tie-up with US boutique investment bank Evercore on cross-border M&A business in 2006 and with London- based HSBC in 2014. The Tokyo-based bank is seeking to deepen contacts with bankers at Evercore by holding more sector meetings mainly in the Americas and with HSBC in Asia and Europe, Yamamoto said.
Mizuho and HSBC advised Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings Inc on its purchase of a stake in French reinsurer Scor SE earlier this month. That was the first time the two banks worked together on an announced deal. When Mizuho advised steelmaker JFE Holdings Inc on its acquisition of Kelly Pipe Co in December, New York-based Evercore worked with the seller, Shapco Inc. Other Japanese lenders have forged similar links with overseas investment banks. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, the biggest shareholder in Morgan Stanley, formed two Tokyo- based securities ventures with the US firm in 2010.
One of those ventures, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co, topped the rankings for Japanese M&A advice in the past two years. It worked with Suntory Holdings Ltd on its $15.9bn acquisition of US whiskey maker Beam Inc, the biggest takeover by a Japanese company last year.
As well as advising other companies on their forays abroad, Mizuho has been buying assets. The banking group agreed in February to purchase Royal Bank of Scotland Group's loans in North America for $3bn, gaining access to about 200 high- grade corporate clients in the region.
"This transaction will increase the possibility to originate deals and give us more opportunities," Yamamoto said. Japanese infrastructure, logistics, health-care and insurance companies are seeking acquisitions in the US and Asia, he said, declining to comment on specific deals.
Companies from Japan were involved in 563 mergers announced this year valued at $50.4bn, the highest since 2005, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. There were 541 acquisitions worth $30bn in the same period in 2014.
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