1. Background of the Need for M&A in Primary Industries

Aging is a significant challenge in primary industries. In agriculture, the average age of workers exceeds 70, and there is a risk that over half of the workforce may disappear within the next decade.
Furthermore, farmland can become irreversibly degraded after only a few years of neglect, making swift business succession through M&A essential to prevent deterioration.

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2. Challenges of M&A in Primary Industries

While M&A is a crucial tool to prevent the decline of primary industries, it often encounters various challenges. Key difficulties include the lack of standardized valuation methods and the limited number of comparable transactions, which make it challenging to determine fair market value.

• Seller’s Concerns: Uncertainty about the sale price and fears of being left with debts after the sale.
   

• Buyer’s Concerns: Although they may assess value based on financial statements from the past 2–3 years, the business sometimes incurs significant losses immediately after acquisition.

3. Our Track Record

When brokering M&A in primary industries, we go beyond numerical assessments and conduct interviews within our nationwide network of trade partners, as well as thorough evaluations of the target company’s human resources.

This approach is critical because many businesses in primary industries rely heavily on human capital, such as the company president or key personnel. Consequently, issues like discontinued transactions with existing clients often arise immediately after succession. By gathering direct insights from current and former trade partners, we obtain valuable qualitative information that helps mitigate potential issues.

• For Sellers: Finding buyers

  • Akita Prefecture: Brokered the sale of an agricultural production corporation

  • Ibaraki Prefecture: Brokered the sale of an agricultural production corporation
     

• For Buyers: Investigating acquisition targets

  • Chiba Prefecture: Acquisition of a vegetable wholesale company

  • Saitama Prefecture: Acquisition of an agricultural production corporation (switched to land-only purchase based on our recommendation)