J-Star acquires Japan’s Asiro

Ownership percentages were not specified although company representative Hiroto Nakayama will continue to hold shares and contribute to management activities. The transaction was made from the GP's second buyout fund, which closed at JPY20.4 billion ($195 million) in 2013 and targets deal sizes of JPY1-10 billion.

Founded in 2009. Asiro operates an online advertising service targeting legal professionals in a number of niche disciplines. Separate navigation channels allow users to refine searches in fields including car accident, divorce, inheritance, labor, penal offence and debt settlement.

According to a statement, the company will apply this methodology to a market that has more than tripled in size during the past 10 years to JPY900 billion. It is also hoping to benefit from a more competitive landscape among the industry's growing number of young professionals, who are increasingly turning to online advertising options. The number of lawyers in Japan has more than doubled in the past 20 years.

J-Star targets small to mid-sized Japanese companies with a focus on control and co-control buyout deals. It claims to have invested in at least 30 transactions since 2006 in areas such as consumer durables, services, healthcare, media and manufacturing.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Support services
• Buyouts
• Japan
• J-Star
• TMT
• professional services