Tokio Marine agrees $163m sale of Japan's Izumi

Maxell and DBJ will purchase 100% of the business, including a 75.6% stake held by Tokio Marine and a 24.4% interest held by Mercuria Japan Industrial Growth Fund. Maxell said it would own 40% of the special purpose vehicle established to make the acquisition.

Tokio Marine invested in the company through its fourth fund, which closed at JPY23.4 billion in 2011. Izumi represents the third disclosed exit from that vehicle this year. It follows sales of construction machinery components manufacturer Tonichi Kosan and wholesale food distributor Shokukai to Wakita & Co. and iSigma, respectively.

DBJ has invested in Izumi before. The bank teamed up with Wise Partners on a restructuring deal in 2010 after Izumi filed for bankruptcy protection. The company was sold to Tokio Marine for an undisclosed sum in June 2016 and Mercuria invested five months after that.

Izumi was founded in the 1940s, initially as a producer of razor blades. It subsequently moved into consumer electronics such as electric shavers and hair dryers, becoming the world’s largest original equipment manufacturer in the former category. The company also started making hydraulic tools used for cutting and connecting electric wires.

Sales came to JPY14.3 billion yen for the 12 months ended March 2018, up from JPY12.6 billion a year earlier. Over the same period, net profit rose from JPY529 million to JPY578 million.

Maxell, which produces consumer electronics, said in a filing that the investment was consistent with its plans to expand into the automotive, smart household devices, and health and beauty segments. The company generated JPY148.2 billion in revenue for the 2017 financial year. It sees business diversification as essential to reaching a target of JPY200 billion in sales by 2020.

Tokio Marine claims to have completed more than 20 buyouts and raised over $1.2 billion since 1991. Last year, it closed its fifth Japan mid-market fund at JPY51.7 billion, beating an initial target of JPY50 billion.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Trade sale
• Consumer
• Industrials
• Japan
• Tokio Marine Capital
• Exit
• manufacturing