Unison buys Japanese restaurant chain

The company has established a footprint of 42 restaurants, primarily in Kitakyushu, a city in Japan’s southern Kyushu region, since establishing its first location in 1976. According to a release, it plans to leverage Unison’s experience in the restaurant sector to expand across Kyushu under the Sukesan Udon brand.

Unison invested via its fourth buyout fund, which closed in 2015 with JPY70 billion ($661.5 million). The fund's previous investments in the food and beverage space last year include last year's acquisition of Dinamix, an operator of Japanese-style bars known as izakayas. 

Other recent activity from Fund IV includes the acquisition of Tokyo-based hotel chain operator Forbes for JPY10 billion, and the acquisition of KIT, an operator of community pharmacies in Japan’s Kanto region. Unison executed the KIT deal in part through the creation of a roll-up vehicle known as Community Healthcare Coordination Platform.

Founded in 1998, Unison pursues mid-cap buyout opportunities involving succession planning, management buyouts, and corporate carve-outs. Other investments in the food and beverage space include wedding and banquet business Apelgamo, and bubble tea store chain Gong Cha Korea.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• Japan
• Unison Capital