Survey: 72% of 83,000 Corporate Restructurings Are Mergers — Stock Exchanges Show Remarkable Growth, Increasing Nearly 5.9-Fold in 10 Years

Compalyze Inc. (headquartered in Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture; CEO: Takashi Suzuki), operator of the corporate database 'Compalyze,' conducted a survey analyzing a cumulative total of 82,594 corporate restructuring cases identified and aggregated as of June 2026. The data, sourced from public notices such as the Official Gazette and electronic announcements (WEB), was broken down by type, year, surviving company, and other perspectives.

The results revealed that the number of mergers and corporate spin-offs increased from 6,229 cases in 2016 to 8,754 cases in 2025—an approximate 1.4-fold rise. Meanwhile, by growth rate per category, stock exchanges stood out, increasing from 71 cases in 2016 to 416 cases in 2025, a remarkable 5.9-fold surge. Additionally, pharmacy chain operators dominated the rankings of surviving companies in 'roll-ups,' where a single company absorbs dozens of others.

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Source: 'Decomposing 83,000 Corporate Restructurings — Mergers Dominate in Volume, Stock Exchanges and Roll-Ups Show Strong Growth'

Survey Summary

Mergers and corporate spin-offs increased from 6,229 cases in 2016 to 8,754 cases in 2025—an approximate 1.4-fold rise. The total number of corporate restructurings identified and aggregated from announcements in the Official Gazette, WEB, and other sources reached 82,594 cases (representing the scope of detectable cases, not the total universe).

By type, company mergers accounted for 59,401 cases (72%), the highest number. Corporate spin-offs followed with 19,660 cases (24%), and stock exchanges, stock transfers, share issuances, and similar types totaled approximately 3,500 cases (4%).

The most notable growth was in stock exchanges, which increased from 71 cases in 2016 to 416 cases in 2025—an approximately 5.9-fold rise. This method, enabling subsidiaries to be established without cash payment, is gaining prominence.

In the rankings of surviving companies in 'roll-ups'—where one company absorbs dozens of others—pharmacy chains dominated (the top company absorbed 163 companies).

The trend of using 'holding companies' as recipients in corporate spin-offs also grew, increasing from 47 cases in 2016 to 223 cases in 2024—an approximately 4.7-fold rise. The proportion of holding companies among all recipients increased from 4.5% to 10.3%.

These figures do not represent the overall M&A landscape including share transfers, but rather the number of corporate restructurings centered on 'mergers, spin-offs, stock exchanges,' etc., as confirmed from announcements in the Official Gazette, WEB, and similar sources.

The Trend of 'Restructuring' Organizations Is Growing

Counting the number of mergers and corporate spin-offs annually, the figure rose from 6,229 cases in 2016 to 8,754 cases in 2025.

While the total number of companies in Japan is also gradually increasing, making it necessary to verify whether this growth can be fully explained by company count alone through population-adjusted analysis, the number of organizational restructuring activities is clearly rising.

Figure: Trends in the Number of Mergers and Corporate Spin-Offs (Survey by Compalyze, 2016–2025)

Looking at the breakdown, company mergers form the foundation. They have consistently remained in the range of 5,000 to 6,000 cases annually, reaching 6,342 cases in 2025.

Corporate spin-offs fluctuated between 1,300 and 2,400 cases. Although the number dropped to 889 cases in 2019, it has remained above 2,000 cases in subsequent years. The data indicates a simultaneous upward trend in both consolidating companies through mergers and separating businesses through spin-offs.

2. Breaking Down the Main Players: Mergers Dominate, Stock Exchanges Show Growth

The total number of identified corporate restructurings amounts to 82,594 cases. By type, company mergers account for 59,401 cases (72% of the total), corporate spin-offs for 19,660 cases (24%), and stock exchanges, stock transfers, share issuances, and similar types for approximately 3,500 cases (4%).

Figure: Composition of Corporate Restructuring Types (Survey by Compalyze)

Mergers dominate due to their wide range of applications. They are used in various scenarios, such as consolidating duplicate subsidiaries within a group, absorbing acquired companies, or streamlining dormant companies. Corporate spin-offs are a method of transferring business-related rights and obligations to an existing or newly established company. They are used to separate revenue-generating businesses from asset-holding entities for succession planning or to restructure specific businesses into forms more suitable for sale.

Figure: Yearly Trends by Type of Corporate Restructuring (Survey by Compalyze, 2016–2025)

However, 'high volume' and 'high growth' are distinct. When comparing annual trends by type, the differences become clear. While mergers and corporate spin-offs are large in scale, their growth over the past decade has been relatively stagnant. In contrast, stock exchanges increased from 71 cases in 2016 to 416 cases in 2025—an approximately 5.9-fold rise.

A stock exchange is a method where the acquiring company uses its own shares as consideration to make the target company a wholly-owned subsidiary, notable for enabling subsidiary formation without cash. The newly introduced 'share issuance' method in 2021 (using own shares as consideration to make another company a subsidiary) also increased to 49 cases by 2025. While mergers and spin-offs remain the dominant players in absolute numbers, the data clearly shows the rising prominence of share-based restructurings from a growth-rate perspective.

Pharmacy Chains Lead in 'Roll-Ups' — One Company Absorbing Dozens

When aggregating mergers from the perspective of the 'absorbing side (surviving company),' another structural pattern emerges: the 'roll-up,' where the same company sequentially absorbs dozens of others. The company that absorbed the most others as the surviving entity was Weese Inc., headquartered in Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, with a cumulative total of 163 companies. This was followed by Red Baron Inc., an automobile sales company based in Aichi Prefecture, with 137 companies, and Ain Pharmacies Inc. in Hokkaido with 96 companies.

Figure: Ranking of Surviving Companies in Absorption Mergers (Survey by Compalyze)

Notably, pharmacy chains occupy the top positions. Weese (ranked first), Ain Pharmacies (third), and Sogo Medical (Fukuoka, 32 companies) are all companies operating pharmacy chains.

The pharmacy chain industry, characterized by many individually owned or regional chains, has seen major chains take over and integrate local pharmacies amid succession issues, drug price revisions, and changing business environments. Absorption mergers have been repeatedly used as the vehicle for this integration, leading to a concentration of cases on the surviving side.

A roll-up is a growth strategy aimed at consolidating fragmented operators under a single management to achieve efficiency and economies of scale, and this trajectory is now visible in the data.

Outside the pharmacy sector, names of large enterprises consolidating subsidiaries within their groups also appear, such as DMM.com LLC (37 companies), Toyota Mobility Parts (34 companies), Fujitsu (33 companies), and JTB (23 companies). Thus, both roll-up types—absorbing external businesses and internal group consolidation—are present within the same 'absorption merger' category.

It should be noted that this ranking excludes 'system integrations'—such as fisheries cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives, fishing vessel insurance associations, and credit fund associations—where industry or regional cooperatives undergo broad mergers based on laws and systems (e.g., Japan Fisheries Mutual Insurance Association: 45 cases, Ehime Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative: 44 cases), as well as mergers of religious corporations (e.g., shrine consolidations). These differ in nature from roll-ups as corporate growth strategies.

The Trend of 'Holding Companies' as Recipients in Corporate Spin-Offs