Nomura Securities Leverages Domestic Relationships to Capture Japan's M&A Wave

Japan's Largest Securities Firm Seizes the Moment

Nomura Securities, Japan's largest securities firm, is capitalizing on the domestic M&A boom to strengthen its advisory franchise and reclaim market share from global competitors. As Japan experiences a historic surge in merger and acquisition activity driven by corporate governance reforms, activist pressure, and generational business succession challenges, Nomura's entrenched domestic relationships have proven to be a formidable competitive asset.

The firm's deep relationships with Japanese corporate clients, cultivated over decades of coverage across equity capital markets, debt financing, and research, provide a foundation for M&A advisory mandates that international banks cannot easily replicate. When Japanese corporates begin considering strategic alternatives, divestitures, or defensive preparations against activist campaigns, Nomura is frequently among the first advisors consulted.

Cultural Fluency as a Strategic Asset

Nomura's understanding of local business culture has proved to be a significant competitive advantage in Japan's evolving M&A market. Japanese transactions often involve nuanced stakeholder dynamics that extend well beyond the immediate buyer and seller, encompassing relationships with employees, suppliers, local communities, and government authorities. Navigating these dynamics requires a level of cultural fluency that domestically rooted firms possess inherently.

This advantage is particularly pronounced in transactions involving family-owned businesses facing succession challenges, where trust and sensitivity are paramount. Nomura's ability to engage with founding families on deeply personal decisions about the future of their businesses has generated a meaningful stream of advisory mandates in the growing middle-market segment.

Substantial Growth in M&A Advisory Revenue

Nomura's M&A advisory business saw substantial growth in 2025, driven by a confluence of transaction types including corporate restructurings, divisional carve-outs, and take-private deals. The firm has been particularly active in advising seller-side clients, helping Japanese corporates evaluate and execute divestitures of non-core business units in response to pressure from shareholders and governance advocates demanding improved capital efficiency.

Seller-side advisory has become an increasingly important revenue category as Japanese conglomerates accelerate portfolio rationalization. Nomura's ability to provide credible valuation analysis, run competitive auction processes, and manage complex stakeholder communications has positioned it as a go-to advisor for corporates navigating these strategically sensitive transactions.

Building Capabilities in Hostile and Unsolicited Situations

Recognizing the shifting dynamics of Japan's M&A market, Nomura has been building capabilities in hostile and unsolicited takeover situations, which have become increasingly common as governance reforms embolden activist investors and strategic acquirers to pursue transactions without target board endorsement. This represents a significant departure from Japan's historically consensual deal-making culture and requires advisory capabilities that few domestic firms have traditionally needed to develop.

The rise of hostile bids in Japan, including high-profile unsolicited approaches for publicly listed companies, has created demand for advisory services on both sides of contested transactions. Nomura is investing in building teams that can advise target companies on takeover defense strategies while simultaneously developing capabilities to support acquirers pursuing aggressive transaction approaches.

Expanding Sector Coverage

The firm has invested in expanding sector coverage teams across several of the industries generating the most M&A activity. Technology sector coverage has been strengthened to address the wave of take-private transactions targeting Japanese software companies, IT services firms, and electronic component manufacturers. Healthcare coverage has been expanded to capture activity driven by pharmaceutical industry consolidation and medical device company acquisitions. Industrial sector teams have been reinforced to serve clients pursuing restructuring and carve-out transactions.

Competitive Dynamics with Global Banks

The competitive dynamic between Nomura and global investment banks is shifting in nuanced ways. While Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan continue to dominate the largest cross-border transactions involving Japanese companies, where their global distribution networks and international M&A execution capabilities provide clear advantages, Nomura's local knowledge gives it a decisive edge in the growing middle market and domestic-to-domestic transactions.

The middle market segment of Japanese M&A, encompassing transactions valued between approximately JPY 10 billion and JPY 100 billion, has been expanding rapidly and represents a substantial fee pool that global banks have historically under-served. Nomura's extensive branch network and corporate banking relationships provide natural origination advantages in this segment, where local presence and long-standing trust are frequently more important than global brand recognition.

As Japan's M&A market continues to mature and diversify, Nomura's combination of domestic scale, cultural expertise, and expanding advisory capabilities positions it to capture a growing share of what has become one of the world's most dynamic deal-making environments.