On May 6, 2019, Skadden hosted the Cross-Border M&A
Conference 2019, titled “Developments and Trends in US and
Japanese M&A.” Key takeaways from the two panel
discussions are summarized below.
US-Bound M&A Deals
The panelists were Akira Kumaki, Skadden M&A partner;
Michael J. Mies, Skadden corporate partner; Patrick G. Rideout,
Skadden litigation partner; and Donald L. Vieira, Skadden CFIUS and
cybersecurity partner. Skadden corporate partner Kenji Taneda
moderated the discussion.
Mr. Kumaki explained that the outlook for Japanese outbound
M&A has continued to strengthen, with more than 20 $1
billion-plus deals per year being the new norm. Similarly,
“megadeals” (i.e., transactions over $10
billion dollars), such as Takeda-Shire and Softbank-ARM, also have
become more common. Mr. Kumaki said that, in addition to an
increase in transaction size, the participants engaging in
cross-border acquisitions also have become more diverse. Until
recently, large,
