The Nihon M&A Center Group encourages widespread M&A service engagement and development as a path to sustaining progress in our society. We promote consideration for the working environment and protection of human rights, all the while supporting the social and cultural life of regional communities.

Company policies for respecting human rights

Our employees are the most important asset for our group's business. It would be impossible to conduct our company's services without the employees.
We take care over employee retention through meticulous development programmes and providing fulfilling careers.
Every single employee should have a sense of mission and through this display creativity. We believe that in so doing this will invigorate our organisation and grow our business, in turn contributing to regional economic development.
The Nihon M&A Center Group respects the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and all four ILO core labour standards. Through our ten compliance articles we promote initiatives for respect of human rights. We condemn all forms of discrimination, be it for example due to sex, age, disability, career history or birth.
Moreover, we are conscious that it is particularly important to show special consideration for children's rights. We are committed to the international standard of Children's Rights and Business Principals, seeking protection and promotion of children's rights in our work.

Promoting diversity

Gender

The Nihon M&A Center Group encourages all of our employees to play an active role irrespective of gender and believes this enhances the value of our company.
It is recognised that female employees may face constraints in how they can work depending on their stage of life, and we accordingly have put in place several measures to enable different styles of work, including home working, shorter working hours and flexitime.
We are keen to promote women to positions of seniority. Women with childcare responsibilities occupy seats on the parent company and subsidiary company boards. Presently the percentage of women in the group consolidated workforce is 29.6% and we have a medium-term target for this to rise to over 30%.

Employment of staff with a disability

Nihon M&A Center embraces the employment of staff with disabilities. For the motivation at work of staff with disabilities we take into consideration the nature of the disability and career aspirations of each individual so that arrangements can be made for their assignments, responsibilities and working hours upon entry into our company with a view to them being able to fulfil their potential in a working environment which has been duly considered and organised.

Reemployment

At Nihon M&A Center we believe that the experience and knowledge of older employees represents an important valuable asset. In 2019 we introduced a system for reemployment to provide an opportunity for employees wishing to continue working after reaching the normal age of retirement.

Employment of foreigners

As our business becomes more global Nihon M&A Center is keen to increase the number of international employees and local employment in our overseas offices. We have introduced several initiatives to ensure equal opportunities and cross-cultural understanding. These include training for our employees overseas on topics such as sales methods and information exchange on the market environment, arranging home stays and internships for visiting students, and study tours with foreign accountancy company offices.

Building excellent labour relations

We strive to foster strong communication between the workforce and management, recognizing freedom of association and employee choice to enter into collective bargaining, respecting compliance with associated legislation and rights.
Our basic policy, moreover, is to ensure that employees are not merely remunerated at above the minimum wage level of the country in which they work, but that remuneration surpasses what is necessary for the cost of living.

System for development of our employees

There are very few people in Japan with experience of M&A in the SME sector and most of the people we recruit into our company are new to this form of business. Nihon M&A Center Group therefore established a "People First" organization for all employees from the president downwards, enabling our employees swiftly to operate as consultants. This involved the creation of a training programme with a comprehensive curriculum for the systematic development of employees according to appropriate goals and their rank.

3KM concept

In the 3KM concept the three Ks are for the Japanese words "Kojin" (individual), "Katei" (household) and "Kaisha" (company); the three Ms stand for Motivation, Mark (as in target) and Management.
Through 3KM it is encouraged as an individual, in home life and at work to aim to create a balance to remain mentally and physically in good health while prospering financially.
Our employees receive training to sustain 3KM, taking work-life balance to a new level.

Communication encouragement

Our group subsidises many kinds of employee activity to encourage communication between members of different departments to help foster a spirit of unity. Tennis, golf, futsal, attending baseball games, running and wine seminars are among the activities taking place.
These activities form a way for information to be exchanged and for employees to relax. In cases where the activities are deemed also to provide a good forum for problem solving and increased motivation there is a system in place for staff to apply for expenses to be subsidised by the company.

System for higher incentives

Our company remunerates employees with a competitive base salary rate intended to support a stable lifestyle. In addition to this we provide an incentive plan which enables employees to increase significantly the level of salary depending on performance. This puts us at the forefront of companies in Japan ranked by salary levels. Additionally we have a system in place to increase the motivation of employees who contribute most to our financial results, who can earn the right to participate in an overseas training trip in which they learn about overseas M&A.

Furthermore, all employees are entitled to receive an allocation of any new issue of paid-in stock options, exercise of which is linked to our financial results. The system has been put in place both to motivate employees to strive for better results and to enhance the value of our company, so the effect is to benefit all employees with little risk.

Employee satisfaction

We believe that high employee satisfaction is an essential ingredient for improvements in the quality of service we offer our customers and others. We have regular staff reviews twice a year and a system for a "secret letter" to the president, as we actively pursue the aim of "hearing the wishes of our employees and helping them come true". Moreover, to improve our ongoing employee engagement we carry out a survey of all our employees every two years.

Creating a safe and healthy workplace

Our group recruits locally in each country in which we operate. As a global enterprise we adhere to all local laws and regulations, taking due care to be mindful of the basis upon which they have been established.
Our company encourages efficient work practices and assesses ways to improve the style of work so that our employees can work less long hours and have capacity for personal development and quality time with family and friends. From April 2021 we introduced a flexible working system for all employees other than those in sales. We encourage our employees to seek a flourishing work-life balance, ensuring that time can be spent individually, with family, and at work in good physical, mental and financial condition. In our domestic market in Japan we engage with employee representatives in accordance with the Labour Standards Act agreement on Overtime Work and Work on Days Off (Article 36).
We aim for every one of our employees to receive checks for both their physical and mental health. We offer support for spouses to receive health checks. We arrange for our staff to have influenza vaccinations at our main offices in Tokyo and Osaka. Arrangements are made so our employees can receive counselling from an occupational therapist, as we endeavour to ensure the workplace is safe and healthy.

Preservation of employment and industries in regional communities

Our group contributes to the revitalisation of regional communities through our M&A services, playing our part to ensure the continuation and growth of companies, sustaining employment.
According to the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, "In the coming decade the number of owners of SMEs and micro enterprises aged over 70 (the average retirement age) will reach around 2.45 million. In about half of these cases (1.27 million, a third of all Japanese companies) the successor has not been decided. If things are left as they are there will be a rapid decline in the number of SMEs and micro enterprises due to the closure of companies, such that in the decade leading up to 2025 there will be a cumulative loss in employment of 6.5m people and a ¥22 trillion reduction in GDP".
As the leading company for SME M&A we are helping to solve the problem.

Our M&A intermediary activities provide economic benefits

Our strategic M&A support includes companies facing management issues such as the lack of a successor, which helps them maintain and increase levels of employment. We have made calculations of the economic impact of this, as described below

source: Yano Research Institute study

1.Basic information

Period	FY2022
Number of companies acquired *	486
Total revenues of acquired companies	¥307.1 billion

* Excluding oversea transactions and partial transfers

2.Level of Revenue saved and jobs preserved

Revenue saves (1 year)	¥346.8 billion
Jobs preserved (1 year)	28,805

3.Future economic benefit

Future economic benefit (3 years)	¥949.6 billion
Future economic benefit (5 years)	¥1.5139 trillion
Future economic benefit (10 years)	¥2.7185 trillion

Bolstering regional financial institutions and accounting firms

Our company does not simply aim to increase M&A activity on our own. By pairing up with regional financial institutions and accountancy firms we offer these partners our support and expertise, enabling them confidently to engage in M&A consultations.

System for certification of M&A specialists

Together with The Kinzai Institute for Financial Affairs our company operates an examination system for M&A expert qualifications.
The purpose of the M&A specialist qualification is to nurture the creation of a human resource highly knowledgeable in M&A to support SMEs and micro enterprises to carry out M&A. In this way it should be possible for appropriate solutions to be found seamlessly for companies lacking a successor and for matching companies. This will lead to stable management of SMEs and micro enterprises; continuous growth; stability in the living standards of owners and employees, all of which in turn helps to sustain growth and development of the Japanese economy as a whole.
There are now over 30,000 M&A specialists who have gained this qualification.

Support for public institutions

Our company keenly contributes to the policy formation of public institutions. We have come to make our views clear to public institutions on policies pertaining to business succession and M&A, contributing in any small way we can to policy decisions. Below are some examples.

• Consolidation of management resources of small and medium enterprises discussion group - Observer
• Reform of Guidelines for Business Succession Sub-committee - Member
• Review of Industrial Revitalisation Through Business Succession Committee - Member
• Small and Medium Enterprise Policy Commission, Working Party for Strengthening Industry - Member
• Tokyo Metropolitan Small and Medium Enterprise Support Center, Business Succession and Revitalisation Promotion Committee - Member
• Tokyo Chamber of Commerce - Member
• Private Company Equity Valuation Methodology Committee Specialist Subcommittee - Member
• SME White Paper - Editorial contributions
• Opinions on proposals relating to the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Support Act
• Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Business Environment Department Finance Section
• FY2020 Third Supplementary Budget for "Business Succession/Continuity Support Related Companies – Business Succession Trial"
• Business Succession Support Centres for 47 prefectures coverage – selected as partner
• Tokyo Metropolitan Small and Medium Enterprise Support Center FY2020 Corporate Restructuring Promotion Support Project Supplementary Budget

Furthermore, within our own company we have an officer responsible for regional development, who is tasked with strengthening links to business continuity support centres in each region and contributing to the resolution of local issues associated with business succession.

Information technology for comprehensive coverage of small regional companies

Whilst there is an enormous latent demand for M&A, we are constrained in our capacity to offer a full-scope M&A intermediary service to cover this with our usual business model.
Accordingly, we have established an IT-based online matching service to assist owners of small companies with quality-assured M&A through our subsidiary Batonz. Some of our partner banks have adopted the V-Compass valuation system developed by our subsidiary Corporate Value Laboratory Inc. for facilitation of M&A valuation, providing a valuation service for clients of our partners Regional financial institutions and accountancy companies with which we are associated are among those that make good use of this service.

Activities to support society and culture

Based on our belief that in addition to pursuing profit companies should contribute to social and cultural causes, we make donations to help the interests of society and the public, as well as supporting culture

Key activities

Helping local communities through foundations and NPOs

Through making donations Nihon M&A Center gives support to foundations and non-profit organisations (NPOs) whose activities contribute to society. In FY 2021 donations of ¥19,428,500 were made under the new corporate “furusato nozei” tax scheme, including support for the construction project for a new stadium for the football club FC Imabari. In FY 2020 the sum of such donations was ¥6,796,000, including the National Council on Fujisan World Heritage NPO, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Motor Neurone Disease Association charity.

Supporting regional revitalization by using the corporate version of furusato nozei (hometown tax donations)

In March 2021, Nihon M&A Center signed an executive partner agreement with Imabari. Yume Sports K.K., which operates FC Imabari, to support its idea of "regional revitalization based on sports and businesses." As a regional revitalization partner, the company supports FC Imabari's activities, regional development, and human resources development. In December 2021, Nihon M&A Center donated to the Imabari City Government's project to construct FC Imabari Football Stadium (Satoyama Stadium Project), using the corporate version of furusato nozei (hometown tax donations).

Active support for culture and the arts

Nihon M&A Center supports the Classic Live for 1,000,000 people foundation through donations and employee engagement. Classic Live for 1,000,000 people is active in creating a fertile environment for people with no interest in classical music to enjoy classical music. The aim is to deliver live music to one million people per year, reaching around 1% of the population of Japan, by putting on small local live concerts throughout the country. As one of our initiatives, in November 2019 we helped stage a live classical music concert in the Tekko Building where our head office in Tokyo is located, in so doing contributing to community life of the building. Ten or so employees participated.

Support for education and scholarship

We support education and scholarship initiatives as a way to develop future talent to sustain the M&A industry. In April 2021 we commenced sponsorship of Part I of an annual lecture series for a two-year term at the Waseda University business school with the theme “Cultivation of Entrepreneurship Lecture Series (I) ”. The purpose of this was for the participants to learn the mindset and knowledge for putting entrepreneurship into action. “Cultivation of Entrepreneurship Lecture Series (I) ” has been attended by over 300 students each semester and is affiliated to the Waseda University business competition, which has been running since 1998. The series of 15 lectures has been delivered on this theme by our President Miyake alongside M&A consultants, specialist lawyers, certified public accountants and tax accountants.
Through this lectures series the structure is being put in place for nurturing entrepreneurship, providing students with tools to obtain the prerequisite knowledge and mindset. The lecture series contributes to the development of human resources for entrepreneurship through dissemination of knowledge and experience of leading M&A consultants, specialist lawyers, certified public accountants and tax accountants.