Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Buybacks in Japan are becoming a much greater driver of shareholder return than in previous years. The total amount of buybacks announced just during the March-end earnings season cleared ¥7trln.</li>
<li>Quiddity has developed a buyback tool which tracks Japanese buybacks and the buyback history for any given company. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/isuzu-motors-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14726:1" rel="noopener">Isuzu Motors (7202 JP)</a> announced a big post-Offering buyback this week.</li>
<li>Want to see how Isuzu has executed buybacks the past decade? Daily data? % volume? You can check here for any of the 21 companies which announced buybacks this week. </li>
</ul>


Buybacks in Japan are becoming a much greater driver of shareholder return than in previous years. The total amount of buybacks announced just during the March-end earnings season cleared ¥7trln.
Quiddity has developed a buyback tool which tracks Japanese buybacks and the buyback history for any given company. Isuzu Motors (7202 JP) announced a big post-Offering buyback this week.
Want to see how Isuzu has executed buybacks the past decade? Daily data? % volume? You can check here for any of the 21 companies which announced buybacks this week. 


[Japan Buybacks] - Buybacks Announced 26-30 May 2025 And Company Buyback History

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

<ul>
<li>Following up on our earlier cross-shareholding work, in this note we look to summarize our work so far by looking at where most of the selling will likely come.</li>
<li>Of the seven companies that we have looked at so far, collectively they have around US$102bn worth of shares to sell in 118 companies. </li>
<li>Of these, they have a combined stake of over US$1bn in 23 companies.</li>
</ul>


Following up on our earlier cross-shareholding work, in this note we look to summarize our work so far by looking at where most of the selling will likely come.
Of the seven companies that we have looked at so far, collectively they have around US$102bn worth of shares to sell in 118 companies. 
Of these, they have a combined stake of over US$1bn in 23 companies.


Japan Cross-Shareholding - Summary Matrix - Over US$100bn of Selling in 118 Companies

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) / Event-Driven

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP)

<ul>
<li>Following up on our earlier cross-shareholding notes, in this note we look at <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mitsubishi-ufj-financial-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:218:1" rel="noopener">Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP)</a>’s cross-shareholding.</li>
<li>MUFG had a stake over US$100m in at least 47 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of around US$19bn.</li>
<li>In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.</li>
</ul>


Following up on our earlier cross-shareholding notes, in this note we look at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP)’s cross-shareholding.
MUFG had a stake over US$100m in at least 47 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of around US$19bn.
In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.


MUFG Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$20bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell, Taking It Slow

Executive Director, Metrical Inc

Aki Matsumoto

Executive Director

Independent Leading Corporate Governance Research

Metrical Inc

METRICAL INC. is an independent leading Corporate Governance research firm in Japan where Corporate Governance is increasingly recognized as an important element on corporate management in these days. Thus, CG research and solutions would become an essential component of global capital markets and play important to contribute to transparency of the markets and maximize shareholders’ value in Japan. 

METRICAL INC. provides Corporate Governance research and analysis including rating services, and  also offers investment research and IR services with solutions and customized profound research on CG and IR issues.

<ul>
<li>While Nidec and Air Water have reported that their numerous M&amp;A deals have contributed to their earnings, it's once again been confirmed that such “perfect M&amp;As” aren't possible in reality.</li>
<li>Even if they turned a blind eye to corporate governance issues to some extent, many investors have viewed family-owned businesses as promising investment opportunities due to their high profit margins.</li>
<li>When shareholder structure changed, Nidec should have transitioned from a family-run company led by the founder at the helm to a company with diversified shareholder base and robust corporate governance.</li>
</ul>


While Nidec and Air Water have reported that their numerous M&amp;A deals have contributed to their earnings, it's once again been confirmed that such “perfect M&amp;As” aren't possible in reality.
Even if they turned a blind eye to corporate governance issues to some extent, many investors have viewed family-owned businesses as promising investment opportunities due to their high profit margins.
When shareholder structure changed, Nidec should have transitioned from a family-run company led by the founder at the helm to a company with diversified shareholder base and robust corporate governance.


When Is the Right Time for the Founding Family to Step Down from Top Management?

Japan Specialist

Mark Chadwick

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Oasis Management has built a roughly 6.7% stake in Nidec - pushing for a deep overhaul of corporate governance.</li>
<li>Zennor Asset takes 6.5% stake in Obara Group, a niche welding and semiconductor equipment supplier, benefiting from automotive and chip capex recovery</li>
<li>Ascender Capital has disclosed a 5.4% stake in F-code - the Japan DX specialist benefiting from demand for AI-enabled marketing tools, SaaS services and consulting services</li>
</ul>


Oasis Management has built a roughly 6.7% stake in Nidec - pushing for a deep overhaul of corporate governance.
Zennor Asset takes 6.5% stake in Obara Group, a niche welding and semiconductor equipment supplier, benefiting from automotive and chip capex recovery
Ascender Capital has disclosed a 5.4% stake in F-code - the Japan DX specialist benefiting from demand for AI-enabled marketing tools, SaaS services and consulting services


Japan Activism Briefs | Nidec, Obara Group, F-Code

Japan

NIDEC CORPORATION is the world's leading manufacturer of small precision motors mainly used in HDD and optical disk drives. The company has extended its focus to the home appliance and automotive markets. NIDEC is active in M&A and its subsidiaries include the world's leading manufacturers of LCD panel handling robots and camera shutters.

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Nidec Corp (6594 JP)

[Japan Buybacks] - Buybacks Announced 26-30 May 2025 And Company Buyback History

Testing out a new tool for buyback data. This time, a recap of the week's announced buybacks (¥254bn, 21 cos) in Japan, along with 10yr historical...

Travis Lundy

Japan Cross-Shareholding - Summary Matrix - Over US$100bn of Selling in 118 Companies

Toyotal has just announced that it will buy back around 290m (around 2% of the stock) of its own shares from MS&AD, Tokio Marine, MUFG and SMFG. In...

Sumeet Singh

MUFG Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$20bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell, Taking It Slow

Following up on our earlier cross-shareholding notes, in this note we look at MUFG (8306 JP)’s cross-shareholding. MUFG had a stake of over US$100m...

Sumeet Singh

When Is the Right Time for the Founding Family to Step Down from Top Management?

I would like to discuss the issues on the March 4 Nikkei article titled “Why Did Nagamori’s Charismatic Management Style Go Off the Rails?”

Metrical Inc

Japan Activism Briefs | Nidec, Obara Group, F-Code

Investment firms Oasis Management, Zennor Asset, and Ascender Capital take significant stakes in Nidec, Obara Group, and F-code respectively,...

Mark Chadwick

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

[Japan Buybacks] - Buybacks Announced 26-30 May 2025 And Company Buyback History

Testing out a new tool for buyback data. This time, a recap of the week's announced buybacks (¥254bn, 21 cos) in Japan, along with 10yr historical...

Travis Lundy

Japan Cross-Shareholding - Summary Matrix - Over US$100bn of Selling in 118 Companies

Toyotal has just announced that it will buy back around 290m (around 2% of the stock) of its own shares from MS&AD, Tokio Marine, MUFG and SMFG. In...

Sumeet Singh

MUFG Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$20bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell, Taking It Slow

Following up on our earlier cross-shareholding notes, in this note we look at MUFG (8306 JP)’s cross-shareholding. MUFG had a stake of over US$100m...

Sumeet Singh

When Is the Right Time for the Founding Family to Step Down from Top Management?

I would like to discuss the issues on the March 4 Nikkei article titled “Why Did Nagamori’s Charismatic Management Style Go Off the Rails?”

Metrical Inc

Japan Activism Briefs | Nidec, Obara Group, F-Code

​Investment firms Oasis Management, Zennor Asset, and Ascender Capital take significant stakes in Nidec, Obara Group, and F-code respectively,...

Mark Chadwick

Investment firms Oasis Management, Zennor Asset, and Ascender Capital take significant stakes in Nidec, Obara Group, and F-code respectively,...