After last month’s UK vote to leave the EU, the president of Daiwa Securities predicted a spurt of Japanese outbound dealmaking, turbocharged by a resurgent yen. But even then, Takashi Hibinowarned, the uncertainties swirling through post-referendum UK meant only a “very courageous individual” would look at doing anything there.
Not for the first time, Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, stepped forward. By making a £24bn bid for British chip designer Arm Holdings, he has defied establishment wisdom and apparently reprised his role as Japan’s foremost courageous individual.
Less clear is whether any other Japanese business leader would want that title.