Corporate Japan urged to look overseas – AVCJ Japan Forum

Jun Tsusaka, partner and managing director of TPG Capital Japan, emphasized the need to think globally but act locally. He noted that there is strong international demand for Japanese firms' technology and process expertise, but expansion should not come at the expense of the unique, locally-driven characteristics that saw these companies emerge in the first place.

Tsusaka added that, even at the best of times, overseas expansion is a necessity: Japan has only 12 cities with a population of more than one million to China's 243.

According to Richard Folsom, Advantage Partners' representative partner, a private equity firm with a proven ability to help companies create a presence overseas is able to differentiate itself from its peers and leverage new opportunities.

Several speakers highlighted the favorable conditions created by a strong yen. While acknowledging the pull of this and other factors, Anthony Miller, partner and CEO of PAG Japan, warned that the problem facing private equity firms is the shortage of companies for sale. He sees the greatest opportunities in alternative markets - hard assets such as real estate, cross-border investments and troubled companies.

Masa Yoshizawa, managing director of The Longreach Group, added that the rush to emerging markets has made a positive impact on the domestic market. With interest in China and India so strong, valuations are rising and this may affect returns, he said. Japan, meanwhile, has turned a corner.

"Competition is decreasing and the market isn't overheating anymore," Yoshizawa said. "Valuation-wise it's very attractive."

Follow and comment on the AVCJ Japan Forum as it happens via Twitter @AVCJ. Hashtag #AVCJJPN.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• GPs
• Japan
• AVCJ Events
• TPG Capital
• Advantage Partners
• PAG
• The Longreach Group Limited