As Toshiba exits market, Japan's governance reforms remain unfinished

TOKYO -- The Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba will draw the curtains on its 74-year history as a listed company on Wednesday, after its shareholders overwhelmingly voted on Nov. 22 for a 2 trillion yen ($14 billion) buyout sought by activist investors.

For Akira Morio, a business school teacher and former investment banker, the buyout of Toshiba by a consortium organized by the private equity company Japan Industrial Partners carries special significance. He worked as investment banker at Goldman Sachs during the 1990s, just after the bursting of an economic bubble heralded Japan's "lost decades." Many of the bankers and lawyers he came to work with saw buyouts as a way to change Japan Inc. "Their time has finally come to take center stage and make an impact," Morio said in an emotive tone.