-
Sep 5, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada
NEW YORK -- Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard is "confident in our ability to finance and complete" its proposed acquisition of Japanese peer Seven & i Holdings, incoming CEO Alex Miller said Thursday. Couche-Tard has reportedly offered around $40 billion for Seven & i. The Japanese company intends to send a response letter saying that the proposed price is too low.
-
Jul 5, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada |Kohei Fujimura |Hideki Shinohara
NEW YORK/DALIAN, China/TOKYO -- From inflation-weary Americans to out-of-work Chinese, consumers are being served up lower prices by restaurants eager to bring them back. A McDonald's in New York City was recently bustling with customers buying limited-time $5 meals, which included a cheeseburger or chicken sandwich, small fries, chicken nuggets and a drink. If ordered separately, the items would total $8.96 before tax.
-
May 9, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada
NEW YORK -- A decade after its $16 billion acquisition by Suntory Holdings, the U.S. distiller behind Jim Bean bourbon has deleted "Beam" from the unit's name to clarify its core role in the Japanese company's global strategy. The former Beam Suntory is now Suntory Global Spirits. Product names, such as Jim Beam bourbon, will continue unchanged.
-
Apr 29, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada |Akira Yamashita
NEW YORK/LONDON -- U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management has acquired a stake in Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. worth tens of billions of yen (10 billion yen equals $64 million), in a possible prelude to an activist shareholder push, a person familiar with the matter said. Sumitomo's market capitalization was around 4.8 trillion yen based on its closing price Friday. Assuming Elliott acquired 10 billion yen in shares, its stake in the company would reach about 0.2%.
-
Apr 27, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada
BOSTON, Massachusetts -- The group behind Sushiro, Japan's largest conveyor-belt sushi chain, officially opened its first sushi restaurant in the U.S. on Thursday in Boston. Sakabayashi Sushi Tavern shares the same format as Sugidama, a chain of izakaya-style sushi restaurants operated by Sushiro parent Food & Life Companies.
-
Jan 2, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Ryo Nakamura |Kenji Asada
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK -- From the Philippines to South Korea, leaders in Asia and beyond have extended support to Japan following the magnitude-7.6 earthquake that struck the Sea of Japan coast on New Year's Day. The death toll from the quake, which affected a wide area around the Noto Peninsula region in Ishikawa prefecture, had reached 55 as of Tuesday night in Japan. Over 57,000 people have been evacuated, Japan's Cabinet Office reports.
-
Dec 22, 2023 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada |Kaori Yoshida
NEW YORK -- The series of ship attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea could curtail global shipping capacity by 20%, according to experts, in a fresh blow to supply chains that could reignite inflationary pressures. Containerships account for 30% of cargo shipments, and $1 trillion worth of freight is carried by those vessels every year. An estimated 10% of the volume passes through the Suez Canal.
-
Nov 18, 2023 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada
NEW YORK -- Japanese watchmaker Seiko Group has been able to gain a fiercely loyal following in the U.S. luxury watch market by building a reputation centered on Japanese craftsmanship that is distinct from well-established European brands. Passionate discussions surrounding the newest offerings from Grand Seiko, Seiko's luxe brand, have become commonplace on Hodinkee, an online magazine for watch aficionados based in New York. "I just love the simple design and craftsmanship of their watches...
-
Sep 13, 2023 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada
NEW YORK -- ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, aims to leverage the streaming service's 150 million American users and its strength in viral videos to expand into the U.S. e-commerce market. TikTok said on Tuesday it would bring the TikTok Shop service, already available in Asia and other regions, to the U.S. ByteDance, whose main revenue source has been advertising, is attempting to diversify its business.
-
Jul 4, 2023 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Kenji Asada
NEW YORK -- The U.S. government's new incentives for energy-saving heat pump systems have fueled a surge in demand, and American companies with little presence in the field are playing catch-up with more experienced players like Japan's Daikin Industries. Late last month, employees at a New York sales office of the air conditioning equipment manufacturer were showing how to install heat pump equipment to construction contractors.
