M&A Japan: TBWA Worldwide and M.A. Hanna Executives Discuss Recent Investments with "Success Stories:Japan".

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 1998--

November Issue Profiles One Global Leader that Bought a Majority Stake in a Japanese Ad Agency; Another that Formed a Joint Venture with a Japanese Manufacturer. But Is There More to the Stories?

Major US companies are stepping up their investments in and with the Japanese despite Japan's economic troubles. In its November issue, SUCCESS STORIES:JAPAN details the stories of two very different companies which recently made the same choice: to heighten involvement with Japanese firms.

TBWA, a unit of Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC), recently announced its acquisition of 81% of Nippo Advertising, one of Japan's top agencies. Hanna Engineered Materials (HEM), a unit of M.A. Hanna (NYSE: MAH), recently announced a 50/50 global joint venture with UBE Industries  to support US-based Japanese automakers. In this month's issue, Keith Smith, TBWA's Asia/Pacific Chairman, describes the reasons for its move, while Jim Chapman, HEM's President, shares his view of why cooperation makes sense for both parties.

Was TBWA just trying to bail out financially-ailing Nissan, one of its largest worldwide clients and Nippo's controlling shareholder? Will Hanna's venture mean the surrender of proprietary technology to the Japanese?

Also this month, contributor John Stern, an expert on Japan's consumer electronics industry, shares some valuable tips and insights, while writer Aaron Woolfolk remembers the forgotten virtues of Japan's Shikoku Island. Other information is of special interest to

-Environmental equipment exporters,

-Japan M&A specialists,

-Japan business travelers, and

-Executives searching for Japan distributors of their goods.

SUCCESS STORIES:JAPAN is exclusively devoted to helping non-Japanese companies in any industry succeed in Japan, whether via export, direct investment or joint venture. It provides corporate executives as well as small business CEOs with marketing ideas from Japan experts and fresh, detailed Japan business solutions from non-Japanese executives who regularly conduct successful business there. It is also used as a management development tool by leading corporate and university executive programs. Join us at the upcoming American Marketing Association and Frost Sullivan Asia conferences, where we will be speaking. SUCCESS STORIES:JAPAN is completely independent of Japanese government mouthpieces and regularly offers surveys, news and information that supplement its detailed profiles of unique Japan business strategies.

To order single copies of SUCCESS STORIES:JAPAN or to subscribe, visit www.SuccessStories.com or call [phone]. Single copies can also be obtained by sending a check for $49 to Success Stories Media, 163 Amsterdam Avenue, Suite 222, New York, NY 10023.