This is believed to be the largest foreign acquisition by Japanese company in more than a decade.

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See Deborah Orr's roundup of Metro AG's foreign expansion in this issue: Even where a multinational company is willing to open up, its local partners (in skittish places like China) may not be.

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What makes this situation more complicated is that it creates an environment in which a legitimately-run foreign firm that buys an American company, and thus can raise money by issuing shares, is lumped in with companies that operate nefariously.

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