Deals
Business Bloodlines Die Out as Asian Owners Opt for Buyouts
- 84% of South Korean mid-cap firms have no succession plan
- Inheritance tax is also very high in the two Asian nations
This article is for subscribers only.
After 37 years of running his business, Shigeru Nagatomi handed over the keys in December last year. Nagatomi Pharmacy Corp., the medical-supplies shop that bears his family name, had grown to 23 dispensing pharmacies in Oita, a coastal prefecture on Japan’s Kyushu Island known for its hot springs.
Nagatomi had contemplated passing the business onto his son, a licensed pharmacist in his late 30s, but a sale seemed a better option considering the need to update IT systems and attract talent. Sapporo-based Medical System Network Co. paid about 3.2 billion yen ($30 million) cash.