1. Summary: Overview of M&A Activity
In November 2025, Japanese companies recorded 38 cross-border M&A and capital alliance transactions across APAC. By type: Acquisitions (9), Investments (17), Divestitures (7), Partial Transfers (2), Joint Ventures (3), Restructuring (6), Capital Alliance (1). By region: Vietnam (7), China (7), India (7), South Korea (6), Singapore (6), Thailand (4), Malaysia (3), Indonesia (2), Taiwan (2), Hong Kong (1).
2. Notable Deals and Strategic Insights
1) Major Case: JSR Group Divests Crown Bioscience International
Observation date: Nov 14
Estimated deal size: ~JPY 31.3 billion (USD 204 million)
Transaction overview: JSR Life Sciences sold 100% of Crown Bioscience International—a CRO operating in the U.S. and China—to China’s diagnostics leader Adicon Holdings. The sale symbolizes the restructuring of JSR’s life sciences portfolio and its strategic refocus on semiconductor materials and advanced chemistry.
Strategic implications:
- For Adicon: integrating CRO capabilities strengthens verticals from diagnostics to drug development support, meeting robust China market demand for R&D services.
- For JSR: accelerates non-core carve-out and redeploys capital into semiconductor materials, reinforcing long-term competitive positioning. Among November transactions, this ranks as a standout asset divestiture by scale.
2) Additional Cases and Sectoral Dynamics
(a) Strategic semiconductor acquisition in Taiwan
- Sumitomo Chemical → Asia Union Electronic Chemical (Taiwan, Nov 21): acquired 100% and made it a subsidiary; a move to fortify process chemicals supply for legacy semiconductor nodes used in automotive and industrial equipment.
Takeaway: focuses on supply assurance and service depth for Japanese device makers and foundries amid persistent global supply constraints—anchoring stable long-term earnings.
(b) ASEAN acceleration in renewables, consumer, and logistics
- Tokyo Gas → TTDH (Vietnam, Nov 4): investment to participate in onshore wind development.
- Hasegawa Fragrance → HOANG ANH (Vietnam, Nov 10): acquisition of flavors/food ingredients producer.
- Cool Japan Fund → Coolmate (Vietnam, Nov 10): investment in apparel brand.
- ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL fund → Stackbox Services (India, Nov 5) and Skintouch Beauty (India, Nov 11): investments in logistics management software and beauty appliances.
Takeaway: ASEAN/India show multi-pronged expansion—renewables for grid decarbonization, consumer brands for demand capture, and logistics/IT for supply-chain digitization.
(c) Technology partnerships and capital tie-ups in Korea/Taiwan
- Omron Healthcare → Sky Labs (Korea, Nov 5): investment in ring-type cuffless BP monitoring for 24/7 tracking.
- Sanyo Trading → KORBON (Korea, Nov 6): CNT R&D collaboration plus convertible bonds.
- DLE → MyFeel (Taiwan, Nov 7): partial share transfer to the CEO.
- Sumitomo Chemical → AUEC (Taiwan, Nov 21): as noted above.
Takeaway: sensor/health-tech, advanced materials, and capital structuring models support option value creation and tech access outside direct M&A.
(d) Organizational restructuring and new JV formations
- Sapporo HD (Nov 12): POKKA Singapore shares and management functions transferred from subsidiary, streamlining governance.
- HOUSEI × GLOBL Group (Singapore, Nov 13): established OmniXuttle, a JV for automated warehouse solutions.
- SBI Holdings × DigiFT Tech (Singapore, Nov 19): formed SBI Onchain, a JV specializing in RWA-token digital asset exchange.
Takeaway: portfolio realignment and JV platforms are used to segment capabilities, speed up market entry, and share risk in new business lines.
(e) China: portfolio selection and concentration via sales and reorgs
- Topy Industries, Honda Trading, KURIYAMA HD, JSR, and Teijin Frontier executed share transfers and restructurings across Chinese subsidiaries.
Takeaway: Japanese corporates continue to recompose China portfolios, balancing policy, demand, and capital efficiency—either exiting non-core assets or shifting functions intra-group.
3. Deal List (by Observation Date)
| Date | Transaction Type | Country/Region | Industry | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/4 | Investment | Vietnam | Energy & Resources | Tokyo Gas invests in TTDH, participating in an onshore wind power project |
| 11/4 | Restructuring | China | Electronics | COSEL’s China subsidiary Wuxi Cosel Electronics absorbs trade operations from Shanghai Cosel Commerce; latter dissolved |
| 11/5 | Investment | Indonesia | Financial Services | Spiral Ventures and Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group form a new company and establish the “Japan Theme Fund” |
| 11/5 | Investment | India | Logistics | ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL fund invests in Stackbox Services, a logistics management system provider |
| 11/5 | Divestiture | China | Transport Equipment | Topy Industries’ subsidiary Lintex divests all shares in Lintex Guangzhou |
| 11/5 | Divestiture | China | Transport Equipment | Honda Trading transfers all shares of its China aluminum alloy subsidiary to a local company |
| 11/5 | Investment | South Korea | Electronics | Omron Healthcare invests in Sky Labs, developer of a ring-type cuffless BP monitor for 24/7 monitoring |
| 11/6 | Capital Alliance | South Korea | ICT | note, Inc. enters a capital and business alliance with NAVER Corporation |
| 11/6 | Investment | South Korea | Chemicals & Materials | Sanyo Trading announces business tie-up and CB purchase with KORBON (single-wall carbon nanotube R&D) |
| 11/7 | Restructuring | Thailand | Transport Equipment | DaikyoNishikawa merges its two Thai subsidiaries |
| 11/7 | Partial Transfer | Taiwan | Leisure & Entertainment | DLE transfers part of MyFeel shares to its CEO |
| 11/10 | Acquisition | Vietnam | Chemicals & Materials | Hasegawa Fragrance acquires HOANG ANH, a flavors/food ingredients manufacturer |
| 11/10 | Investment | Vietnam | Consumer Goods & Retail | Cool Japan Fund invests in Coolmate, an apparel brand |
| 11/11 | Investment | India | Consumer Goods & Retail | ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL fund invests Pre‑Series A in Skintouch Beauty, beauty appliances & personal care |
| 11/11 | Investment | Singapore | ICT | MPower Partners Fund II invests in Transcelestial, next‑gen laser communications infrastructure |
| 11/11 | Divestiture | China | Manufacturing | KURIYAMA HD transfers all equity in Aile (Foshan) Building Materials |
| 11/11 | Investment | South Korea | ICT | Brave group forms capital/business alliance with Kakao (operator of KakaoTalk) |
| 11/12 | Restructuring | Singapore | Consumer Goods & Retail | Sapporo HD inherits all shares of POKKA Singapore and related management functions from subsidiary |
| 11/13 | Investment | India | Electronics | Omron Healthcare makes an additional investment in Tricog Health (ECG analysis services) |
| 11/13 | Acquisition | Malaysia | Machinery | YAMAZEN to acquire AtoG1, the effective parent of machine tool distributor CK Mac Global |
| 11/13 | Joint Venture | Singapore | Industrial Services | HOUSEI and GLOBL Group establish OmniXuttle, a JV for automated warehouse solutions |
| 11/13 | Investment | South Korea | ICT | Miraise invests Pre‑A in Provotive, an AI packaging company |
| 11/14 | Acquisition | Vietnam | Industrial Services | RENT makes MaxRent Vietnam a wholly‑owned subsidiary |
| 11/14 | Investment | India | Chemicals & Materials | Sumitomo Corporation acquires a minority stake in TruAlt Bioenergy Group (ethanol production) |
| 11/14 | Divestiture | China | Healthcare | JSR Life Sciences sells Crown Bioscience International to Adicon Group |
| 11/18 | Partial Transfer | Vietnam | Electronics | Torex Semiconductor transfers 95% of TOREX VIETNAM SEMICONDUCTOR to PANJIT INTERNATIONAL (Taiwan) |
| 11/19 | Joint Venture | Singapore | Financial Services | SBI Holdings and DigiFT Tech establish SBI Onchain, a JV for RWA‑token digital asset exchange |
| 11/19 | Restructuring | South Korea | Electronics | JET absorbs all business from J.E.T. Korea and establishes a new Korea branch |
| 11/20 | Acquisition | Thailand | ICT | ASICS acquires Thaidotrun, a race registration platform |
| 11/20 | Acquisition | Malaysia | Consumer Goods & Retail | Nichirei executes capital increase into its Malaysian subsidiary and sub‑subsidiary |
| 11/21 | Investment | Thailand | Consumer Goods & Retail | Marubeni makes an additional investment in Karmarts Public Company (beauty & personal care) |
| 11/21 | Acquisition | Taiwan | Chemicals & Materials | Sumitomo Chemical acquires Asia Union Electronic Chemical (semiconductor process chemicals) |
| 11/25 | Restructuring | Thailand | Logistics | Kawasaki Kisen (K Line) reorganizes logistics operations in Thailand |
| 11/25 | Investment | India | Transport Equipment | TBK enters a capital & business alliance with Brakes India |
| 11/25 | Restructuring | Singapore | ICT | Quantum Solutions inherits all shares of two Hong Kong subsidiaries from its Singapore entity |
| 11/26 | Acquisition | Indonesia | Chemicals & Materials | Shikoku Chemicals HD acquires Timuraya (basic/agrochemicals) |
| 11/26 | Investment | India | ICT | Techno Horizon’s Singapore subsidiary Esco makes Indian affiliate COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES a wholly‑owned subsidiary |
| 11/27 | Divestiture | China | Chemicals & Materials | Teijin Frontier acquires Toyobo’s China airbag fabric subsidiary Toyobo Automotive Textiles (Changshu) |
| 11/28 | Capital Alliance | South Korea | Chemicals & Materials | Chugoku Paints forms a capital and business alliance with SAMHWA PAINTS INDUSTRIAL |
Glossary of Terms
- Acquisition: Obtaining majority control of the target company or business.
- Investment: Obtaining less than majority control of the target company or business.
- Divestiture: Transferring majority control of the target company or business.
- Partial Transfer: Transferring partial control of the target company or business.
- Fundraising: The target company raises capital from third parties (e.g., share issuance, convertible bonds, fund investment).
- Restructuring: Structural changes within a corporate group (e.g., holding company formation, business unit integration, spin‑off, merger).
- Joint Venture: Establishing a new company jointly or converting an existing company into shared control (multiple companies co‑invest and share management rights).
- Capital Alliance: Business partnership involving equity ties without aiming for management control (typically small shareholding).
- Merger: Multiple companies integrate into a single legal entity (including absorption‑type and new establishment mergers).
- Other: Business collaborations not covered above, such as licensing agreements, strategic partnerships, or co‑development.
Notes:
- APAC refers to East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia (including ASEAN), and Oceania.
- The deal list is compiled by observation date and may differ from official disclosure timelines and effectiveness dates.