Japan

Intel Capital unveils seven new Asia investments

Intel Capital, a corporate VC arm of chipmaker Intel Corporation, has invested in seven Asia-based companies as part of a batch of 16 global commitments totaling $65 million. The Asian firms, coming from China, India, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan, account...

Australia's IFM changes name, opens Tokyo office

Industry Funds Management has changed its name to IFM Investors. The move comes shortly after the Australia-headquartered group consolidated its private equity and private assets divisions into one team and as it expands its presence in global markets,...

MBK closes third North Asia buyout fund at $2.7b hard cap

MBK Partners has closed its third fund at the hard cap of $2.7 billion after just over one year in the market. The North Asia-focused GP, which was founded by Michael B. Kim, former president of Carlyle Asia Partners, set an initial target of around $2.25...

VC-backed Eneres in $25m Japan IPO

Eneres, a venture capital-backed energy resources management firm, saw its stock more than double to JPY717 on its first day of trading in Tokyo yesterday following a JPY2.5 billion ($25 million) IPO.

Japan online fish seller raises $1.5m VC round

Hachimenroppi, a Japanese firm that operates an IT-enabled fresh fish distribution platform, has secured a JPY150 million ($1.5 million) round of investment from Pygmalion No 2, a venture fund managed by Tokyo-based firm Value Create. Two strategic investors...

J-Star buys 'fourth hand' Primagest

Primagest, a firm whose primary business is using optical character recognition (OCR) to turn documents in data, appears every bit the tech-savvy up and comer. However, it has been doing the same thing – in one form or another – for 45 years.

Panasonic unit gets KKR cure

KKR's acquisition of Panasonic Healthcare marks a return to form for the firm after its earlier efforts to acquire Japanese chipmaker Renesas were frustrated by the government-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). The deal had raised...

INCJ, VCs back Japan big data firm Smart Insight

Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) is to invest up to JPY1 billion ($10.3 million) in Smart Insight Corp, a big data analysis software developer for the corporate sector. The business has also secured JPY400 million from Energy & Environment...

J-Star ups stake in Primagest

Japanese GP J-Star has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in image processing firm Primagest. The financial details of this second tranche of investment were not disclosed, but a source with direct knowledge of the matter said the mid-market...

Yamaguchi bank launches $30.7m SME restoration fund

Yamaguchi Capital and the Regional Economy Vitalization Corporation of Japan have together set up a JPY3 billion ($30.7m) fund - Yamaguchi Business Restoration Fund - to provide capital to distressed small- and medium-sized businesses (SME).

Japan's Integral backs TBI Group

Japanese private equity firm Integral Corp. has acquired part of TBI Group, a restaurant chain operator with 78 outlets, as part of a management buyout. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Japan's Lixil acquires TPG-backed faucet maker Grohe

Lixil Group, a Japanese toilet manufacturer, has agreed to acquire Grohe, a German maker of faucets backed by TPG Capital and the private equity arm of Credit Suisse (formerly CSFB Private Equity), for JPY400 billion ($4 billion).

Japan's KDDI, Cisco lead $10m Series A for Moxtra

Japanese telecom firm KDDI Corp and US tech giant Cisco Systems have led a $10 million Series A round of investment for Silicon Valley-based app developer Moxtra. Other investors include China's Innovation Works and Starwood Capital's Barry Sternlicht....