Konaka Takes Futata
After weighing buyout offers from Konaka and AOKI Holdings, menswear chain Futata has decided to accept Konaka's offer. According to press reports, Futata said that its financial advisor Sumitomo-Mitsu had reported that the two offers "were almost the same." Futata had a previously existing alliance with Konaka, and thus can build on their collaborative relationship. The new firm will become Japan's third-largest menswear chains. AOKI had previously stated that it would not attempt a hostile takeover of Futata if it was turned down.

Notably, Kennichi Ohmae has expressed his doubts about the wisdom of AOKI's bid. He argues that buying relatively small Futata would do little to help AOKI compete against its nemesis Aoyama Shoji, the number-one menswear chain, and that it would be buying Futata shares at a high price. Despite all the recent chatter about the dawning of a new M&A age in Japan, Ohmae thinks that, compared with the U.S., Japanese companies have only begun to take its first steps in this area.