Japan's Aspirant leads $223m manufacturing carve-out

The carve-out has been secured by an entity known as Toyokawa Holdings, which is controlled 75% by Aspirant and 25% by Daiwa PI Partners, another local private equity firm. Aspirant is investing via its AG II Fund, which closed at JPY27.2 billion in 2017, and a related vehicle called AG IIb. The firm is said to be targeting approximately twice that for its third fund.

UACJ Copper Tube was founded in 1897 as Sumitomo Copper Rolling Works. The company is a major player in the air conditioning supply segment, where it claims to account for 40% of the Japanese market and is planning an expansion into Southeast Asia and North America. 

According to a filing, net income declined 28% during the 12 months to March to about JPY1 billion, while sales gained 5% to JPY45.3 billion. The company will retain its current management and employees, although Aspirant and Daiwa PI will make appointments to the board.

Aspirant has made a number of investments in industrials, including plastics supplier and recycler Maruki, civil engineering contractor Nissan Rinkai Construction, and Filwel, a company that manufactures abrasives and artificial leather. Previous carve-outs include the acquisition of a logistics division of consumer and industrial products conglomerate Takara Holdings.

Daiwa PI began operations in 1998 as a commercial loans division of investment bank Daiwa Securities and began making PE investments in 2001. It claims to have deployed about JPY350 billion to date in Japan and Asia. Portfolio companies include personal mobility devices maker Whill, and Spiber, a company that makes novel protein-based materials that simulate the characteristics of spiderwebs.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Industrials
• Buyouts
• Japan
• manufacturing