Japan
Eneos to buy PE-backed Japan Renewable Energy for $1.8b
Eneos Holdings, an oil company and active technology investor, has agreed to acquire Japan Renewable Energy (JRE) from Goldman Sachs Asset Management and GIC.
EQT recruits Japan private equity head from JPIC
EQT has hired Tetsuro Onitsuka, formerly of Japan Post Investment Corporation (JPIC) and TPG Capital, as head of Japan private equity as it continues to build out a local presence in the country.
Carlyle buys Japan advertising business
The Carlyle Group has completed its acquisition of Japanese advertising content provider AOI TYO Holdings follow a tender offer that valued the Tokyo-listed company at JPY21.4 billion ($191 million).
Riverside exits Japan bicycle business to Daiwa
The Riverside Company has sold Japan-based bicycle retailer Y International to domestic private equity firm Daiwa PI Partners for an undisclosed sum.
LP interview: Japan Investment Corporation
Japan Investment Corporation aims to help a sparse venture capital market catch up with a slightly more mature buyout space. Balancing private and public interests remains the key challenge
Japan's SmartNews secures $230m Series F
Japan-based news app SmartNews has achieved a valuation of $2 billion on closing a $230 million Series F round featuring US-based Princeville Capital and Woodline Partners as well as several local investors.
Carlyle joins $221m round for Japan's Spiber
The Carlyle Group’s Japan team has completed its first minority deal, participating as a cornerstone investor in a JPY24.4 billion ($221 million) round for local biomaterials developer Spiber.
PayPal to acquire Japan's Paidy for $2.7b
PayPal has agreed to buy Japan’s Paidy, a specialist in deferred e-commerce payments backed by several private equity investors, for about JPY300 billion ($2.7 billion).
Kakao, KDB join $30m round for Japan's H2O Hospitality
Kakao Investment and Korea Development Bank (KDB) have joined a $30 million Series C round for H2O Hospitality, a Japan-based tourism operator expanding in Korea and Southeast Asia.
Japan’s Coral Capital raises $127m for latest VC fund
Japan’s Coral Capital has confirmed a first and final close of JPY14 billion ($127.4 million) for its third venture capital fund. The vehicle is more than twice the size of its predecessor.
Japan's Shiseido sells US makeup brands to Advent
Japan’s Shiseido has extended a program of non-core divestments with the sale of three of its US makeup brands to Advent International for $700 million.
Japan's iSpace raises $46m Series C
Japan’s Incubate Fund has led a JPY5.1 billion ($46.5 million) Series C round for iSpace, a local lunar exploration technology developer firming up an ambitious calendar of missions.
Activist target Japan Asia Group agrees asset sale to Carlyle
Japan Asia Group (JAG) has revived plans to sell stakes in two key subsidiaries to The Carlyle Group, six months after a similar transaction was abandoned in the face of opposition from activist investors. The deal is worth JPY58.5 billion ($534 million).
Japan sneaker marketplace raises $56m
SoftBank Ventures Asia has led a JPY6.2 billion ($56.4 million) Series C round for Japanese sneaker marketplace and e-commerce start-up Soda.
J-GIA carves out furniture business from Japan's Seven & i
Japan Growth Investments Alliance (J-GIA) has agreed to buy a majority stake in furniture and home décor business Francfranc – which has stores in Japan and Hong Kong – from Seven & i Holdings, the parent of 7-Eleven.
Deal focus: Fujitsu Ventures updates ancient grains
Fujitsu is bringing blockchain to the rice industry with a ramped up corporate VC agenda. Digital transformation is the goal; food security and sustainable trade are the outcomes
Portfolio: Integral Corporation and Nitto FC
Japan’s Integral Corporation treads lightly in the conservative agriculture space as it helps fertilizer maker Nitto FC evolve from an owner-centric culture to a more distributed power structure
Fujitsu VC unit backs rice trading platform
Fujitsu, one of Japan’s largest IT companies, is backing the world’s first digital global rice trading platform in the debut deal from its latest corporate VC fund.
GP profile: Unison Capital
Unison Capital hones its game and holds tight to its heritage as one of the pioneers of private equity in Japan, even as its tentacles begin to span the breadth of Asia
Advantage, Tokyo Century agree Japan battery carve-out
Advantage Partners is making another investment alongside Tokyo Century Corporation – which bought a stake in the GP two years ago – with an agreement to buy a battery business controlled by local conglomerate Showa Denko.