TOKYO -- At the end of each year, as Japanese sit down to write New Year's cards to friends and family, Shigenobu Nagamori is busy with a different sort of correspondence. The chairman and president of industrial motor maker Nidec writes several dozen letters to the top executives of overseas companies he is targeting for acquisition.
"If you are ever willing to sell your company, please let me know," he writes with characteristic courtesy (which belies his steely tough reputation). The executives usually reply that they have no intention of selling for now, but will inform him if things change.
