Delivering Financial Solutions as Capital Markets Innovators

「The Group will continue contributing to the sound development of the capital markets, centered on the power of voting rights. As a group of specialists whose foundation is proxy advisory services that do not side with activists, and whose two pillars are independent equity consulting and financial advisory services, we will support the sustainable growth and enhancement of corporate value of listed companies.」

「The Group will continue contributing to the sound development of the capital markets, centered on the power of voting rights. As a group of specialists whose foundation is proxy advisory services that do not side with activists, and whose two pillars are independent equity consulting and financial advisory services, we will support the sustainable growth and enhancement of corporate value of listed companies.」

「The Group will continue contributing to the sound development of the capital markets, centered on the power of voting rights. As a group of specialists whose foundation is proxy advisory services that do not side with activists, and whose two pillars are independent equity consulting and financial advisory services, we will support the sustainable growth and enhancement of corporate value of listed companies.」

「The Group will continue contributing to the sound development of the capital markets, centered on the power of voting rights. As a group of specialists whose foundation is proxy advisory services that do not side with activists, and whose two pillars are independent equity consulting and financial advisory services, we will support the sustainable growth and enhancement of corporate value of listed companies.」

「Amid these developments, the Group seeks to help turn expectations and external pressure from the stock market into sustainable growth for its listed-company clients. As an independent equity consulting and financial advisory group unaffiliated with a financial conglomerate, with proxy advisory that does not take the activist side as its core business, it will support the sustainable growth of Japanese listed companies through its two core businesses: shareholder-voting-rights consulting and M&A advisory relating to corporate control.」

「The Group will maintain its position as an independent equity consulting and financial advisory group whose core business is proxy advisory without taking the activist side. It will independently collect global capital market trends through its Tokyo and New York offices and support the sustainable growth of Japanese listed companies, with shareholder-voting-rights consulting and M&A advisory relating to corporate control as its two core businesses.」

「The Group will deepen its one-of-a-kind equity consulting services and fully demonstrate its greatest strength, Power of Equity® (the power of shareholder voting rights), while leveraging leading-edge market intelligence, ESG information and proprietary databases relating to emergency TOBs and proxy contests. With shareholder-voting-rights consulting and M&A advisory relating to corporate control as its two core businesses, it will thoroughly support clients from both the defense and offense sides while standing alongside each client.」

「Under the new management structure, the Group will leverage leading-edge market intelligence, ESG information and proprietary databases relating to emergency TOBs and proxy contests. With shareholder-voting-rights consulting and M&A advisory relating to corporate control as its two core businesses, it will thoroughly support clients from both the defense and offense sides while standing alongside each client, and deepen its one-of-a-kind equity consulting services.」

「The Group established a Market Intelligence Division to strengthen its proprietary databases covering leading-edge market intelligence, ESG information, and emergency TOBs and proxy contests, while seeking to improve the efficiency and value added of its conventional research operations.」

「By collecting and analyzing leading-edge market intelligence and ESG information from around the world, the Group will accelerate the adoption of its distinctive, advanced equity consulting services. From support for ordinary IR and SR activities, which serve as the point of contact with activists, to emergency TOBs and proxy contests, it will leverage its proprietary database, expertise and execution capabilities to improve shareholders’ common interests for a diverse range of clients.」

「The Group’s track record of winning this engagement as the one-of-a-kind PA and FA attracted considerable attention and gave momentum to engagements for large projects on both the offense and defense sides.」

「The Group is deepening its one-of-a-kind equity consulting services and fully demonstrating its greatest strength, Power of Equity® (the power of shareholder voting rights). It will analyze listed companies’ risks relating to corporate control (M&A), capital and ESG with the greatest speed and precision, provide services promptly and accurately while standing alongside each client, and accelerate growth from the second half of the fiscal year onward by actively pursuing large and ordinary business opportunities in the enormous M&A and IR/SR markets.」

「The Group is proactively expanding its client base by advancing its one-of-a-kind IR and SR and equity consulting services and fully demonstrating its greatest strength, Power of Equity® (the power of shareholder voting rights).」

「Going forward, we will use Power of Equity® (the power of shareholder voting rights) as our greatest strength and expand engagements for large projects in the era of major corporate realignment by providing fact-oriented, practical solutions that enhance trust in cross-border capital markets.」

「The Group has independently developed and refined the collection and analysis of a wide range of capital markets data from around the world. By providing each client promptly and accurately with a consistent, one-of-a-kind and entirely new equity consulting capability spanning IR and SR consulting, investment banking and shareholder services, while standing alongside each client, it will accelerate growth in the enormous M&A and IR/SR markets by building a new track record.」

「While maintaining their thorough commitment to standing alongside clients, the SR consulting and investment banking teams will make full use of the expanded AI and research databases. Using advanced, leading-edge PA and FA solutions centered on Power of Equity® (the power of shareholder voting rights), they will expand engagements for large projects on both the defense and offense sides.」

「While maintaining its thorough commitment to standing alongside clients, the SR consulting team makes full use of the research team’s database, strengthened by an expanded AI team, and works with the investment banking PA and FA teams, highly advanced specialist groups at the forefront of their fields. Using Power of Equity® (the power of shareholder voting rights) as its strength, it will expand the foundation for one-of-a-kind equity consulting on both the defense and offense sides.」

「Amid these developments, the Group, as a one-of-a-kind, fully independent equity consulting firm built around Power of Equity® (the power of shareholder voting rights) and integrating PA and FA services, has expanded engagements in contests for corporate control, including proxy contests and hostile TOBs, on the strength of its outstanding track record. It has also rapidly enhanced its investment banking capabilities specializing in shareholder voting rights and financial, capital and shareholder-return policies, enabling it to respond promptly to clients’ needs.」

「Going forward, as the only investment bank whose formidable track record comes from integrating PA and FA, we will seek to expand engagements for large projects from both the defense and offense sides, making the protection of minority shareholders and the enhancement of shareholders’ common interests our guiding principles.」

「The Company has brought together SR advisory, whose greatest strength is shareholder voting engagement with more than 6,000 institutional shareholders worldwide that continuously invest in Japanese companies; proxy advisory, which has an outstanding record of victories; and financial advisory (finance and M&A), staffed with some of Japan's largest and most sophisticated teams specializing in activist defense. It offers the management of its listed-company clients one-of-a-kind equity consulting that contributes to enhancing corporate value, and is rapidly expanding engagements.」

「As a result, the Company achieved a substantial increase in engagements for consulting services that organically integrate M&A and proxy solicitation, IR and SR, corporate governance and company law-related services, and shareholder services.」

「Amid these changes, the Group, as a one-of-a-kind equity (shareholder voting rights) consulting firm, has organically integrated IR and SR consulting, investment banking and shareholder services. In addition to expanding engagements for its existing services, it has increased engagements for its newly developed AI-powered capital consulting services, corporate governance-related work and projects in which it can leverage its strengths as an independent FA (Financial Advisor), based on its unparalleled expertise in shareholder voting rights and shareholder trends.」

「During the third quarter, we continued to steadily expand FA and PA engagements, focusing on challenging transactions requiring the knowledge and experience unique to our group, including buy-side FA services for listed companies acquiring unlisted companies, defence-side FA services for operating companies facing hostile takeovers, corporate-side FA services relating to M&A activism, and large-scale proxy advisory engagements aimed at securing corporate control.」

「Our group has strong capabilities in a new financial-services field that organically combines IR and SR consulting, investment banking and securities transfer agency services, which can be regarded as a concentration of ESG literacy. By accurately developing and providing a range of consulting services that respond to these changes, we have secured higher-value-added services from existing and new clients.」

「In addition, the specialist investment banking team assembled at the new Marunouchi office expanded mandates for large transactions, using its exceptionally high success rate in proxy contests as a competitive strength. It also successfully expanded its services from the traditional PA domain into FA. An FA mandate related to the execution of a large-scale tender offer for the company's own shares is one example.」

「In addition to obtaining J-Adviser status and strengthening access to unlisted companies, our pipeline of M&A engagements for the next fiscal year is also growing steadily. In proxy advisory services, recognition of our group's outstanding track record has advanced further, increasing engagements from a more diverse range of clients, including founding families and major shareholder companies that are business partners.」

「As M&A transactions involving listed and unlisted companies in Japan become more active, we assembled at the Marunouchi office, newly established on 9 January of the current year, a specialist investment banking team comprising professionals in equity, particularly voting rights (proxy) consulting, as well as accounting, banking, finance and compliance. We aim to strengthen our distinctive presence in equity-related M&A, including proxy and Financial Adviser (FA) services.」

「In addition to the existing pipeline, increased staffing from the previous fiscal year has led to more new engagements, creating an organisational structure capable of full-scale operations. As more companies develop a stronger awareness of their own risks amid mounting external pressure from the market, we are also developing new solutions.」

「Inquiries for proxy advisory services increased. In M&A advisory services, several engagements also commenced, indicating that the organisation expanded in the previous fiscal year is beginning to function effectively.」

「As our group's investment banking business has gradually become better known, consultations and referrals from existing clients, law firms and major financial institutions have increased, and a pipeline of engagements unique to our group is also expanding.」

「We will focus on strengthening and expanding these services so that, as specific financial solutions resolved through our group's investment banking business accumulate, we will be increasingly recognised as a reliable M&A adviser.」

「By expanding our organisation, we have steadily captured business opportunities unique to our group, including M&A and financing transactions related to securing voting rights, in addition to our traditional proxy work.」

「Building on our strong track record and credibility as a proxy adviser (PA) in securing overwhelming support for corporate voting rights, we aim to expand revenue by having our expanded team of specialist consultants provide appropriate FA services.」

「In response to growing demand for entirely new financing support from an issuer's perspective, distinct from that of financial institutions, we established the Investment Banking Department in January 2014 and have provided financial advisory services relating to rights offerings, M&A, management integration and the conversion of companies into wholly owned subsidiaries.」