Reiji Yoshida Senior Reporter MERGERMARKET

Reiji Yoshida is a Tokyo-based reporter covering M&A deals and growth strategies of Japanese companies, mainly those in the industrials sector. He also regularly writes top executive interview stories of Japan-based startups.

Prior to joining Mergermarket in May 2021, he served as Senior Writer / Deputy Manager of the Domestic News Division of The Japan Times, the oldest and largest English-language newspaper of the country. Started his journalistic career in 1993, he has extensive experience of covering Japan-related topics as writer /editor.

Ryohei Nomoto Principal GLOBIS CAPITAL PARTNERS

After beginning his career as a lawyer supporting startups, Ryohei Nomoto joined the KDDI Group's Supership Holdings in 2015. As the Head of Corporate Development and a subsidiary executive, he has overseen the development of company-wide strategies, M&A, business development, and policy planning. In 2019, he joined Globis Capital Partners. He is the author of "Successful Alliances: Strategy and Practice" (published by Nihon Jitsugyo Publishing) and more.

Gen Tsuchikawa Chairman SONY VENTURES CORPORATION

Gen Tsuchikawa is the Chairman of Sony Ventures Corporation, where he supports the venture investment arm of Sony Group Corporation known as the Sony Innovation Fund. In this role, he is responsible for strengthening external relationships on behalf of the organization within the venture capital industry and globally through collaborative initiatives with prominent industry associations, corporate venture funds, and venture capitalists. Gen established Sony Innovation Fund on behalf of Sony in 2016. Under his leadership, Sony Innovation Fund greatly expanded its focus on early- to growth-stage emerging technology startups in the entertainment, healthtech, fintech, deeptech and environmental sectors. He also helped to increase the fund’s assets under management to more than $600 million in 2023.

Gen has spent nearly 20 years at Sony, where he also currently serves as a Corporate Vice President. Gen previously served in other various executive roles at Sony, leading Corporate Development, M&A, Business Development, and Investors Relations.

Prior to joining Sony, Gen spent 20 years in the finance industry at Merril Lynch and the Industrial Bank of Japan.

Gen holds a B.A. from Hitotsubashi University in Japan and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Takako Okabe Partner, Leader in the Strategy & Corporate Development in Japan IBM CONSULTING JAPAN

Takako is a leader in the Strategy & Corporate Development in Japan. She has more than 20 years of experience developing strategic business models and M&A integration / separation planning for domestic and international clients in wide range of industries. She works primarily with broader Manufacturing and Auto companies on strategy and M&A topics.

Her experience in M&A stretches across the entire process, from strategy and theme definition to target selection, due diligence, synergetic assessment, and post-merger management for both domestic and cross-border transactions.

Prior to joining IBM, she worked for KPMG FAS, Booz Allen Hamilton, GE Capital, and Intel based in the US and Tokyo. She leveraged in-depth knowledge of North American, Asian, and Japanese markets in order to provide astute and productive business consulting to clients. She worked on integration / separation projects for clients across North America, Europe, Asia, and Japan.

Professional Experience

■ Market Assessment, Business Due Diligence, and Visioning & Strategic Planning

Provided assessments of the growth prospects and value creations of the target company through analysis of the overall addressable market and adoption rate as well as target-specific ramp-up issues and challenges.

■ Value-Driven Post-Merger Integrations

Led the overall PMI strategy, Day1 / Day 100 planning, value creation planning, and execution for clients undergoing merger. Included support to attain operational excellence for the continuous improvement of client operations.

■ Separations / Carve-outs

Helped client management teams work through their exit strategy decisions. Conducted separation due diligence to contain carve-out costs and identify savings. Supported structure and run the operational carve-out, IT separation, and divestiture process.

Function and Specialization

Takako is leading the IBM Japan M&A initiatives as part of IBM global transformation activities called “Transform to Glow” focused on strategic partnerships and acquisitions how IBM Consulting Japan collaborates with strategic partners and the broader ecosystem, while also investing in acquisitions to augment capabilities.

Michiko Kato Partner WOVEN CAPITAL

Michiko Kato is a partner at Woven Capital. Michiko’s investments span multiple domains including mobility, automation, smart cities, data and analytics. She led Woven Capital’s investments in Nuro, Ridecell, and WHILL.

A passionate investor and operator of growth-stage businesses, Michiko also serves as an independent director at HENNGE and Excite Holdings, as well as a board observer at Nuro and Ridecell.

Before Woven Capital, Michiko was Chief Financial Officer at ABEJA, Inc. — a market leader in artificial intelligence technology backed by Google, NVIDIA and Salesforce. After joining ABEJA in 2018, Michiko helped establish the company’s corporate functions, including finance, strategy, HR and PR. She also worked at leading investment firms such as Unison Capital, International Finance Corporation and Morgan Stanley.

In 2022, Michiko was named a Top 50 Rising Star by Global Corporate Venturing, which recognizes the industry’s top investors chosen from more than 2,000 corporate venturing units.

Michiko holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. from International Christian University in Tokyo.