J-Star invests in Japanese courier business

J-Star is investing via its fourth flagship fund, which closed on JPY 48.5bn (USD 360m) in 2019 with a view to writing cheques of up to JPY 3bn for control or co-control stakes. Fund V closed on JPY 75bn in April with a similar mandate.

Founded in 1998, Score Japan is one of the country’s largest independent courier forwarders with 18 domestic and 17 offshore operational centres. The offshore footprint includes 14 facilities in mainland China, two in Hong Kong, and one in Taiwan.

Its growth outlook is said to be underpinned by increasing demand in terms of low-cost, door-to-door delivery between Japan and China.

“We believe the services provided by Score Japan Group will increase the importance, of the B2B air cargo business, as well as the B2B2C air cargo business, which is likely to grow supported by higher demand for e-commerce businesses,” J-Star said in a statement.

“We will support Score Japan Group and its management to expand the service area, increase efficiency in operation, and build stronger governance, to accomplish further.”

The investment was led by Yuki Kashiyama, a partner and head of the operations team at J-Star. He will work closely with Huan Zhao, a manager at the GP, who is a native of China and has experience working in logistics with Marubeni Corporation.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Support services
• Expansion
• Japan
• J-Star
• Growth capital
• Logistics
• Transportation
• e-commerce