Thanks to play-by-play television coverage of Internet firm Livedoor Co.'s aborted attempt to takeover Fuji Television Network Inc., discussion about mergers and acquisitions has spread far beyond Tokyo's Otemachi business district.
But the regional markets of Japan are still tough to crack for investment companies, especially the foreign ones seeking to acquire struggling companies to turnaround.
The U.S. Embassy is now enlisting the help of Laura Resnikoff, a prominent professor at Columbia Business School, to change that. The embassy hopes to increase the general awareness of M&As and turn it into widespread acceptance, which would help investment funds from the United States struggling in regional pockets of Japan.