Hiroyasu Kato［Managing Director］
Japanese and US CPAHe has extensive experience in all phases of the M&A transaction including business valuation, structuring, accounting & tax assessment, business restructuring, negotiation of terms and conditions and due diligence for domestic and cross-border acquisitions. As Mr. Kato is certified as a CPA in both Japan and the U.S., he is able to offer the skills of an accountant as well as an investment banker.
Hiroyasu Kato is Managing Director of Due Diligence Corporation, and founding Partner of GCA. He has over 16 years of auditing and M&A advisory experience and is especially strong in areas of M&A advisory, business reorganization, due diligence and negotiation strategy planning. His expertise in valuation includes assessing investment value, calculating merger and share exchange ratios, intangible asset valuation, share price valuation for delisting companies and other valuation required for M&A deals. His industry experience ranges from manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, service companies in brand businesses such as apparel, shoes, bags and accessories to automobile parts, pharmaceutical/healthcare, food and communications media.
After graduating from a Japanese university, he started his career at KPMG New York, where he was primarily involved in statutory auditing for Japanese companies’ US subsidiaries, US joint ventures establishment by Japanese companies and preliminary surveys for M&A transactions. After 6 years in New York, he acted as director of KPMG Corporate Finance in Japan where he was involved in numerous M&A transactions including a Japanese company’s acquisition of non-Japanese company, sale of subsidiaries and business reorganizations. During this time, he experienced a wide range of M&A advisory work including corporate valuation, accounting, tax and legal assessments, negotiation representation, business reorganization scheme development and due diligence for various companies home and abroad.
Notable deals include Itochu Corp’s acquisition of multiple brand and trademark rights (Hunting World, Bally, Chrome Hearts, Paul Smith etc.), Fujifilm Corp’s acquisition of distribution agents in the Oceanic region, Calsonic Kansei Corp’s acquisition of Seiko Instruments Inc.’s compressor business, Honda Motor’s share acquisition of its Indonesian motorcycle manufacturing J/V with Astra, integration of substation business divisions of Hitachi, Fuji Electric and Meidensha Corp and business transfer to AE Power Systems, Japan Tobacco’s acquisition of Asahi Kasei’s food business.
<biography>
Graduate of Kansai University, BA in Commerce
1992 Joined KPMG New York Office
1998 Returned to Japan, joined KPMG Corporate Finance
Apr 2004 Partner of GCA Corporation
Dec 2006 Representative Director of Due Diligence Corporation
<other notables>
M&A seminar lecturer for various third-party associations and organizations, contributing author to various M&A publications.
2006 Apr Appointed Associate Professor at Kobe University Graduate School of Business Administration
