MinebeaMitsumi: Japan's King of Deals Looks for Yen at 120 to Launch Global M&A

(Bloomberg) -- Minebea Mitsumi Inc. Chief Executive Officer Yoshihisa Kainuma - dubbed the "King of Deals" in Japan - expects the yen to strengthen past a key level of 120 per dollar soon, after which he's ready to resume actively pursuing foreign acquisitions. Most Read from Bloomberg New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern Announces Shock Resignation More Young Americans Are Dying, But Not From Vaccines Crypto Firm Genesis Is Preparing to File for Bankruptcy Usain Bolt Lost $12 Million in Savings to a Scam Treasury Taps Retirement Funds to Avoid Breaching US Debt Limit Kainuma anticipates the yen will soon appreciate from a current level of around 128 per dollar because the Fed is likely to slow the pace of monetary policy tightening. That stance on M&A marks a shift from September, when the executive called foreign acquisitions "risky" at a time one greenback was worth more than 140 yen. "Once the dollar drops below 120 yen, I should be able to encounter realistic acquisition opportunities outside Japan," the 66-year-old executive told Bloomberg News. Deal-making globally has plummeted at a time of tightening liquidity and mounting uncertainty over the prospects for a global recession. But some are keeping an eye on targets ahead of a potential recovery toward the end of 2023 or beyond. In Japan, the stabilizing yen is also a factor: this week, Resonac Holdings Corp.'s CEO said he's preparing to spend hundreds of billions of yen on chip acquisitions. Read more: TSMC Supplier Resonac Prepares for Billion-Dollar Chip Deals Kainuma declined to set a timeframe but said doing deals should get easier this year, in no small part because of easing Covid travel restrictions that make it easier to meet in person. The CEO added that he's been keeping an eye on potential domestic targets as well. "I hope to finish one more case by the end of March," he said. Tokyo-based Minebea Mitsumi is a maker of ball bearings and high-precision components, and a supplier to consumer names such as Apple Inc., Nintendo Co. and LG Electronics Inc., according to Bloomberg data. Since taking the CEO post in 2009, Kainuma has closed more than two dozen acquisitions and is constantly juggling deals to expand the company's lineup in a rapidly changing market. He's made three purchases this year. The company is on track to lift group-wide revenue to 2.5 trillion yen ($19.6 billion) by fiscal 2028 from 1.1 trillion yen in fiscal 2021, Kainuma said. The plan is to use M&A to contribute 500 billion yen to 800 billion yen to that long-term goal. Read more: Japan's King of Deals Preps His Biggest Buy in Yen Headwinds --With assistance from Tian Chen and Cormac Mullen. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad What Tech Job Cuts Say About Silicon Valley-and the Rest of the Economy Laid-Off Tech Workers Are Just What the Auto Industry Needs It's a Business Free-for-All in a Russia Transformed by Sanctions Tech Workers Talk About Getting Laid Off ©2023 Bloomberg L.P.