Hitachi & Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to Merge
M&A activity seems to be running rampant this year in the energy sector, and Japan is next in line to begin consolidating some of its biggest companies. Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have hinted at a merger that will form the second largest industrial company in Japan behind Toyota, with combined sales of 12 trillion Yen ($150 billion).
Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are two of Japan’s oldest companies, founded in 1910 and 1884. The companies were both major players in Japan’s 20th century industrialization. Both are currently heavily involved in the energy generation and industrial electronics sectors.
SEE OTHER TOP STORIES IN THE WDM CONTENT NETWORK
Caterpillar Acquires Bucyrus International
Japan Nuclear Plant to Build Anti-Tsunami Seawall
Read the latest issue of Energy Digital!
Hitachi is the bigger of the two companies, with 9.3 trillion Yen in sales, 238.8 billion in profits, and roughly 362,000 employees. However, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is no slouch, with 2.9 trillion Yen in sales, 30.1 billion in profit, and 69,000 employees.
Considering that Japanese cultural business norms typically frown upon mergers and acquisitions, as well as speculative media coverage, no official statements have come forward on the merger from either company. Analysts, however, expect this to be the first in a country-wide domino effect of mergers and acquisitions across Japan. Earlier this year, Nippon Steel—Japan’s largest steel company—announced a merger with Sumitomo Metal Industries—the third largest. The merger is expected to be finalized by October 2012.
