TMI Associates, Freshfields and Davis Polk & Wardwell have represented Japanese manufacturing giant Nidec on its 257-billion-yen ($1.6 billion) bid for Makino Milling Machine, which turned to Nishimura & Asahi and Sullivan & Cromwell for advice.

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune is advising a special committee constituted by Makino Milling to review the bid.

Reuters reported that Nidec, the world's top manufacturer of precision motors, said it plans to clear regulatory processes by early April and launch the tender offer on April 4, even without Makino's consent.

Reuters added that Nidec, led by founder Shigenobu Nagamori, backed Japanese guidelines issued last year to promote mergers and acquisitions and remove a long-held stigma around unsolicited bids.

It added that the reform push by the Tokyo exchange has also sparked a slew of share buybacks, unwindings of cross-shareholdings and management buyouts.