Why Kizuna
The adviser with no vested interest in the outcome.
Japanese acquirers in the UK and Europe are not short of advisers. They are short of one who is independent of the transaction, senior enough to speak plainly to a chairman, and fluent in both corporate cultures.
What the name means
絆, kizuna, describes an enduring bond between people built on mutual trust and support. The word originally meant a physical tether. Over centuries its meaning turned from restraint into connection.
That is a fair description of what a successful acquisition ought to create. In order to realise the value anticipated by the buyer, a tie that begins as a legal instrument has to develop into an enduring bond between a board in Japan and a management team in Europe.
How we are different
Not a management consultancy
No team of analysts, no workstream methodology sold by the month. One senior adviser, with cultural awareness at a human as well as a business level.
Not an investment bank or M&A adviser
The transaction is complete. Kizuna PMI has no fee tied to it and no interest in the next one.
Not an accounting firm
The question is not whether the numbers are correct. It is why the business behind them is not behaving as expected.
Not an interim management provider
Where interim leadership is genuinely the answer, we will say so and help find it.
Credible on both sides of the table
Kizuna PMI is engaged by the acquirer, but it is not the acquirer's enforcement arm. An adviser the acquired management team does not trust will learn nothing, and an adviser the board does not trust will change nothing.
The work depends on being simultaneously credible to a chairman in Nagoya and to a managing director in Birmingham, and on both of them understanding that discretion runs in each direction.
An introduction, in confidence
If something in your acquired business is not behaving the way the board has anticipated, that is the conversation to have.