Mizuho Capital to launch $300m SME mezzanine fund

According to Bloomberg, the fund will launch in January next year and will target a gross IRR of 10%. It will be the successor vehicle to MH Mezzanine Investment Enterprise II, a JPY17.7 billion fund originally launched in June 2011. Fund I was launched in November 2005 and a reached a close of JPY25.3 billion.

Tadashi Miyazaki, managing director at Mizuho Capital, said this latest fund would focus on companies in need of extra capital to both expand their business in Japan and overseas, but are unable to obtain sufficient financing from domestic banks.

Mizuho's is not only mezzanine fund to come to market in Japan over the past 12 months. In December last year Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance said it was launching a JPY30 billion mezzanine fund with a view to backing corporate acquisitions.

Prior to that, Intermediate Capital Group (ICG), a global mezzanine specialist, and Japanese investment bank Nomura Holdings launched a joint venture to manage a mezzanine fund to which each would contribute JPY10 billion. The fund is looking to take advantage of an expected rise in demand for mezzanine debt as the country benefits from the government's economic reforms.

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• Topics
• Mezzanine
• North Asia
• Fundraising
• Mezzanine
• Japan
• SME
• Growth capital
• Mizuho Capital
• Fundraising