JAIC spin out WM Partners reaches first close on maiden secondaries fund

The fund - JSPF No. 3 - was set an initial target of up to JPY10 billion and has so far received several commitments from institutional and strategic investors, including the government-backed Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, Japan (SMRJ), which put in JPY2 billion.

"We have already started to look into some deals and that will continue to be our focus over the first quarter of this year," Matsumoto told AVCJ. "From April we will look to market to addtional institutional investors both overseas and in Japan - such as funds-of-funds and pension funds - and we expect to reach a final close of JPY8-12 billion within a year."

Unlike Ant Capital, the only other pure-play direct secondaries investor in Japan, WM is more interested in early-stage investments rather than investments in the mid-cap space.

In addition to targeting VC funds looking for liquidity at the end of their lifespan, the PE firm will focus on corporations keen to trim their risk exposure on strategic investments and financial institutions looking to divest holdings due to regulatory requirements or management policy.

"In the last couple of years we have seen a lot of angel investors appear in Japan who are good at managing companies in the early stages," Matsumoto told AVCJ in April. "We would come in and help take these companies to the next level."

The last fund the WM team managed while part of JAIC had a corpus of JPY8 billion. Over a period of 10 years, the team invested around $120 million and delivered a 2.7x return. Backers included Development Bank of Japan and institutional investors such as insurance companies and trust banking corporations.

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• Topics
• Fundraising
• North Asia
• Venture
• Secondaries
• Venture
• Fundraising
• Secondaries
• JAIC
• WM Partners