J-Star completes $6.6m exit of sweets maker Tokachi

Established in 1974, produces Japanese sweets - made from traditional ingredients such as red bean paste and rice cake - that are sold across 26 stores in southern Saitama prefecture under a brand called Tokachi Amanatou Honpo.

The company also has nine stores in Tokyo under a brand called Kashin-tachibana, which it operates through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tachibana.

J-Star originally paid JPY450 million for 100% of the company though its maiden fund J-Star No.1, a 2006 vintage vehicle which reached a final close of $120 million in 2007.

During the holding period, J-Star focused on several areas including product development, store location optimization and sales channel development. This included repositioning the products away from being seasonal gifts to being "on-spot" purchases, moving the stores locations from roadsides to being in or near train stations.

The company also looked to sell more of its products through supermarkets and co-op stores.

Mediaflag - which is listed to Tokyo Mothers market on Tokyo Stock Exchange - offers distribution support services to consumer goods manufacturers. It is also one of the major mystery shoppers in Japan, visiting over 200,000 stores a year and offering its clients advice on sales and marketing strategy.

This the second exit of 2013 for J-Star, which sold clothing brand Olive des Olive in January, generating a 3x return. The firm reached a final close on its second fund at JPY20.4 billion in July.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Consumer
• Exits
• Japan
• Exit
• J-Star
• Consumer