Nomura Holdings Inc. is losing its four-year grip as lead adviser on takeovers after losing out on the biggest deal in 2012, raising questions about its ability to arrange financing for clients and the pace of its rebound from the insider trading scandal.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. overtook Nomura this month after winning a role advising and managing funding for Softbank Corp.'s record $20 billion bid for U.S. based Sprint Nextel Corp.
Mizuho has worked on Japanese mergers and acquisitions announced this year valued at $77 billion, while Nomura advised on deals worth $52 billion, Bloomberg data show.