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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