Clifford Chance
Amendment Bill of the Industrial Revitalisation Law
17 May 2011
On 14 February 2011, the Japanese government submitted an amendment bill in respect of the Law on Special Measures for Industrial Revitalisation and Innovation (the "Law") to the Diet. The Law was adopted in 1999 and aimed at revitalising the slow Japanese economy in an attempt to spur sustainable growth and development, and has previously been amended several times. The Law provides special (favourable) measures for Japanese companies with respect to the applicable corporate tax regime, financing options and Company Law requirements.
In summary, the Law is structured to allow a business operator to benefit from such special (favourable) measures by preparing a specific business reorganisation plan which is authorised by a competent minister in charge of the operator's business and then those special measures are applied to the authorised business plan to aid the Company's growth and development. The amendment bill is mainly aimed at accelerating strategic industrial reorganisation to strengthen the global competitiveness of Japanese industries. The amendment bill contains certain new special measures which may influence M&A transactions.
This briefing summarises the main points of the amendment bill which may affect M&A transactions.
