Citigroup Taps Ex-Nomura Dealmaker to Lead Japan M&A Push

Citigroup has hired Hajime Higuchi, a veteran dealmaker who spent years at Nomura Holdings, to lead its mergers and acquisitions business in Japan, part of a broader push by the Wall Street bank to expand its dealmaking presence in the country.

Higuchi's appointment took effect this month, placing him at Citigroup's Tokyo based securities subsidiary. He joins from Nomura, where he most recently served as the firm's international head of mergers and acquisitions. Over more than three decades in investment banking, Higuchi has worked across Japan, the broader Asia region, Europe, and the United States, and has advised on more than 250 domestic and cross border transactions spanning a wide range of industries.

Joining a Freshly Reshuffled Japan Leadership Team

At Citigroup, Higuchi will report to Akira Kiyota and Taiji Nagasaka, who serve as co-heads of the bank's Japan investment banking operations, and will also report on a matrix basis to Colin Banfield, Citigroup's head of mergers and acquisitions for Asia. The hire adds another senior figure with deep Nomura roots to a Japan team Citigroup has been actively rebuilding, following other recent appointments of bankers with backgrounds at the Japanese financial giant.

The buildout reflects intensifying competition among global banks for talent in Japan, where a wave of corporate restructuring, activist investor pressure, and cross border dealmaking has fueled one of the busiest mergers and acquisitions markets in the region. Rival firms, including Japanese brokerage Daiwa, have also been expanding their own dealmaking teams to capture a share of that activity.

A Bet on Japan's Deal Boom Continuing

By bringing in a dealmaker with Higuchi's track record and relationships built over decades in the Japanese market, Citigroup is signaling confidence that the current surge in Japanese mergers and acquisitions activity has staying power rather than representing a short term spike. How quickly Higuchi can translate his experience into new mandates for Citigroup will likely shape how the bank's broader Japan expansion effort is judged in the coming year.