Prescribing the Pill in Japan?

Contrary to popular belief, corporate Japan is changing incrementally, to be sure, but changing nonetheless. One of the areas of greatest potential change is the legal and business environment for mergers and acquisitions ( M&A ), including hostile M&A. Recent amendments to Japan\u27s Commercial Code in the areas of stock swaps and divestitures are helping to facilitate M&A transactions.1 At the same time, the constellation of shareholders in Japanese firms is changing as cross-shareholding declines and foreign investment increases. M&A activity in Japan has increased significantly in recent years.