Japan's companies spent a record amount in 2012 to acquire assets outside of their economically moribund country, up 24 percent from the previous year, as a strong yen turned foreign companies with a strong growth potential into bargains.Investment bankers say 2012, which saw the largest foreign purchase on record by a Japanese company, may have marked a fundamental shift in corporate Japan's attitude to foreign mergers and acquisitions that could spell even more deals ahead."There's been a marked change in approach by the large Japanese (corporation), who now realize the need to diversify," said Gregg Lemkau, head of M&A for Europe and Asia at Goldman Sachs. "They seem to have woken up in a way that has made them much more competitive in cross-border M&A situations."Softbank Corp's audacious $20.1 billion takeover of 70 percent of U.S.-based Sprint Nextel Corp, which has yet to be finalized, was the largest ever acquisition by a Japanese company of a foreign target.
Sprint Nextel Corporation (Sprint) is a holding company, with its operations primarily conducted by its subsidiaries. Shares of S traded higher by 0.37% or $0.02/share to $5.48. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $2.10 and as high as $6.04. On average, 64834900 shares of S exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 46040132.
Source
