Carlyle to sell Japanese food business Meisui Bijin

The private equity firm acquired the business, officially known as Meisui Bijin Factory, in 2016 when it bought parent company GGC Group. It invested via its third Japan buyout fund, which had previous exposure to food via an estimated JPY20 billion ($185 million) acquisition of ramen snack company Oyatsu. 

Carlyle cited deep sector expertise in the redevelopment of Meisui Bijin’s management structure and the scaling up of its pre-cut vegetable business, reinforcing a strong position in the local bean sprout space. Value-add efforts during the hold were also said to include a redirection of the company’s overall vision. 

“We at Meisui Bijin Factory would like to thank Carlyle for enabling us to achieve a period of such significant growth, and for their dedication to our mission to contribute to the everyday health and wellbeing of our customers,” Jiro Wakasa, the company’s president and representative director, said in a statement. 

Bean sprouts are an important grocery item in Japan, typically ranking behind only milks and eggs among household essentials. Meisui Bijin has attributed its market leadership in the western regions of the country to access to natural water, advanced production technologies, and effective supply chain management. 

Carlyle closed its third Japan fund at JPY119.5 billion in 2015. The vehicle was smaller than its predecessor, which received commitments of JPY215 billion in 2016 but was scaled back to JPY165.6 billion due to weaker-than-expected deal flow. The firm is currently looking to raise up to JPY217 billion for its fourth fund, according to industry sources. 

It pursues a mix of succession and carve-out transactions in Japan, with deployments falling in a range of $100-300 million. Recent activity includes the acquisition of beer maker Orion Breweries alongside Nomura Capital Partners in a JPY52.1 billion deal and an investment in cosmetics manufacturer Tokiwa. 

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Trade sale
• Consumer
• Japan
• The Carlyle Group
• manufacturing
• Agriculture