Carlyle registers $775m for third Japan fund

The amount, which includes $550 million registered under a second vehicle named Carlyle Japan International Partners III, was filed with regulators yesterday. The fund is understood to be targeting a final close of JPY100 billion ($807 million) and the filing does not necessarily reflect all commitments made to date.

The vehicle was launched in the middle of 2013 and crossed the $600 million threshold in October last year, predominantly with capital from from domestic investors. It has since been focusing on overseas investors, with US-based pension fund Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) of the State of Illinois announcing its commitment in February.

Carlyle's previous Japan fund closed at JPY215 billion in 2006, but the corpus was subsequently reduced to JPY165.6 billion. As of March 2014, the fund had delivered a net multiple of 0.9x and a negative IRR, according the most recent data from the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).

The 2001 vintage Carlyle Japan Partners I meanwhile - which closed in 2003 with a corpus of JPY50 billion - had a net multiple was 2.5x and the IRR of 34.1%.

Four investments have already been made from Fund III including a controlling stake in Oyatsu Company, a manufacturer of Baby-Star ramen snacks, and an agreement to buy Sunsho Pharmaceutical, a contract manufacturer in the health and nutrition industry.

Carlyle has also made two tender offers for companies: mortgage bank SBI Mortgage, in a deal valued at approximately JPY43.2 billion; and Hitachi Metals Techno, a second-tier subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, for JPY29.3 billion.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Fundraising
• Buyouts
• Japan
• The Carlyle Group
• Fundraising
• buyout