The number of mergers and acquisitions in Japan hit an all-time high of 2,552 in 2005, moving Japan into second place worldwide from fourth the previous year, according to a U.S. financial research company.
Japan's M&As, up 23 percent from the previous year, followed the United States, which had 9,045 cases, a recent survey by Thomson Financial said. Britain ranked third with 2,425.
With investors flush with surplus cash amid low interest rates worldwide, a large amount of overseas money, including pension funds, flowed into Japan through investment funds, fueling M&A activities, the report said.
There remains a wide gap between the United States and Japan in terms of market size, but growth in M&As in Japan is strong. "Japan is steadily becoming one of the major places for M&As," the report said.
In addition to the growth in numbers, Japan saw the value of M&As roughly double to $167.5 billion (19.15 trillion yen ) in 2005, the third worldwide behind the United States and Britain, Thomson Financial said.
The number of worldwide M&As announced in 2005 came to 32,568, worth about $2.7 trillion. The 2005 figures exceeded the previous year's levels both in terms of number and value.