Japan's J-Star buys freight forwarding company
Japan’s J-Star has acquired local freight forwarding business Japan Trust Holdings for an undisclosed sum as part of a transportation services consolidation play.
The private equity firm is investing via its fourth flagship fund, which closed on JPY 48.5bn (USD 348m) in 2019 with a view to writing cheques of up to JPY 3bn for control or co-control stakes.
The deal has been structured as a bolt-on of transportation and courier services provider Score Japan Holdings, which Fund IV acquired last August. J-Star retains a significant majority position in both companies.
Japan Trust provides maritime freight forwarding service with strengths in Japan-US shipping routes and has the capability to secure container spaces through its own network. The company claims knowhow of US domestic land transportation, as well as technological capacities around handling special cargo such as hazardous and heavy materials and larger machinery.
“Against the backdrop of robust trading flows between Japan and US, Japan Trust and its small, but exceptional team have grown the business with strong recognition from the clients and has been the fourth largest player as NVOCC [non-vessel operating common carrier] for Japan-US shipping routes in terms of container handling volume,” J-Star said in a statement.
J-Star said it expects Japan Trust and Score Japan – one of the country’s largest door-to-door delivery players with capacities in air cargo handling – to benefit from synergistic effects. The plan is to grow the combined business by expanding its service line-up, streamlining operations, and strengthening the company structure alongside the management team.
J-Star focuses on Japan’s lower middle market and has experience with platform plays in various industries, notably healthcare. The firm closed its fifth fund at the hard cap of JPY 75bn in April last year.
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