Dai-ichi’s win brings Japan’s M&A hopes to life

Benefit One

09/02/2024 04:46

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are their own.)
       SINGAPORE, Feb 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Turning
unsolicited offers into friendly recommended deals could become
the norm in Japan. Dai-ichi Life  8750.T  on Thursday won a
bidding war for Benefit One  2412.T , a healthcare platform. Its
prevailing $2 billion takeover proposal is a 21% increase on the
buyer’s first offer. More importantly, it is 90% more than the
target’s undisturbed share price from mid-November when M3
 2413.T , a Sony-backed  6758.T  digital healthcare provider,
made the first move on the company and brokered a deal with
Benefit One’s parent.
    M3 failed but there are multiple winners here. Benefit One
shareholders are the most obvious. The agreed deal values the
company at about 40 times the next 12 month’s earnings, per LSEG
data, in line with its 10-year average. Japan Inc also gains.
Companies are paying heed to guidelines unveiled last year by
officials to prevent excessive defensive tactics against M&A
proposals. That push is part of a broader effort in Japan to
boost shareholder value. The volume of management buyouts in the
country hit a record in 2023 but the $14 billion privatisation
of Toshiba stole the show. The little deals like Dai-ichi’s
explain why Japan’s stock market is trading at 30-year high.(By
Anshuman Daga)
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 (Editing by Una Galani and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)