The merger of equals with Fuji Yoshiten, and the new name Japan Pulp & Paper (1969)

The author’s view

This merger was executed by the side that had not been stopped, in the year after the manufacturers’ merger was blocked by the Fair Trade Commission. Consolidation in production ran into a wall of market share; consolidation in distribution did not meet the same wall. Seven distributors issued a joint statement, the manufacturers responded by calling for stronger balance sheets, and two of those distributors merged — the order in which restructuring proceeded, from distribution rather than production, is where the circumstances of the paper industry in this period can be seen.

The form of the deal — a one-to-one ratio and a new corporate name — held together because Nakai, the larger party, gave way. What it gave up, however, was the name and not the management. Nakai’s Hirata took the presidency and Fuji’s Hirose withdrew as an adviser. The two presidents can be seen to have separated, early in the negotiation, the giving up of a name from the taking of substance. The discarded name “Nakai” has still not returned.