Hitachi jointly acquired intellectual property and related assets associated with a German company’s biomethanation technology with Hitachi Power Solutions. TOPPAN acquired a U.S. company’s packaging business, and its operating profit in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 rose approximately 47.9% year on year. The moves by both companies have been reported as examples of large-company M&A leading to business transformation.
Hitachi, Ltd. announced in August 2026 that it had acquired intellectual property and related assets associated with a German company’s biomethanation technology together with Hitachi Power Solutions. This is said to have opened the way for the new technology to be commercialized.
Meanwhile, TOPPAN Holdings’ acquisition of a U.S. company’s packaging business contributed to its results, with operating profit in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 rising 47.9% year on year. Strengthening the business portfolio through the acquisition is believed to have been a factor.
Matsui Katsunari (松井克成), author of the book Startup M&A for Entrepreneurs: Another Way to Maximize Corporate Value and co-founder of ファイナンス・プロデュース, positions startup M&A as a form of growth investment for large companies and explains that incorporating external technologies can accelerate business growth.
Discussions surrounding this type of large-company M&A have cited the initiatives of Hitachi and TOPPAN as examples, and suggest that the scaling and improvement in quality of startup M&A could affect the growth strategies of large Japanese companies.