The joint venture of Morgan Stanley (>> Morgan Stanley) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (>> Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc) earlier this year advised on Suntory Holdings Ltd's $13.6 billion (8.08 billion pounds) acquisition of U.S. whiskey maker Beam Inc, a deal which also involved a bridge loan of up to 1.4 trillion yen ($13.69 billion).

Chief Executive Takashi Nagaoka told Reuters that Japanese business leaders seem to be bolder about embarking on global M&A, including leveraged deals, as Japan's shrinking population encourages them to look beyond their home market.

"We have both a long list and short list of possible deals being negotiated, but if you include them all I think a 50 percent increase would be too low. Everyone has excess cash and think they ought to do something," he said.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando and Emi Emoto)

Stocks treated in this article : Morgan Stanley, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc