A private-sector survey shows Japanese companies last year made a record number of overseas mergers and acquisitions. 
According to a report by M&A consultancy Recof Corporation, Japanese businesses launched 635 such deals in 2016. That's 75 more than in the previous year and marks the third straight year of increase. The deals were valued at about 90 billion dollars, Japan's broadcaster (NHK World) reported. 
The biggest acquisition was the roughly 30-billion-dollar purchase by Japanese telecom giant Softbank Group of UK-based chip developer ARM Holdings. That was also one of the largest cross-border buyouts on record by Japanese corporations. 
The second largest was leading brewer Asahi Group Holdings' buyout of beer businesses in 5 East European countries. These totaled 7.6 billion dollars.