M&A among Japanese companies jump 80% in domestic restructuring push

TOKYO -- Mergers and acquisitions between Japanese companies shot up around 80% on the year to 6.8 trillion yen ($47 billion) for the first half as corporate Japan focused on domestic business restructuring in a bid to lift stock prices.

Major deals include a 2.1 trillion yen buyout of Toshiba by a Japanese investor group led by Japan Industrial Partners. JSR, a leading producer of photoresist for semiconductor manufacturing, also agreed to be acquired by the government-backed Japan Investment Corp. for approximately 1 trillion yen.