Bain Capital agrees to pay $421m for Japan hot spring chain

Ooedo-Onsen runs a chain of 29 traditional inns and hot spring spas across the country, however it is most well known for its Its Oedo-Onsen Monogatari resort in the man-made island of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay.

According to a statement, the company has seen sales increase about 30% since 2007, and expects to record a revenue of JPY35 billion for the fiscal year ending February.

Following the investment, it is anticipated that Bain will aid the company's drive to attract more business from overseas by, among other things, seeing the company's website is available in more languages other than Japanese, English, and Chinese; improving its online reservation system; and ensuring its resorts are listed in foreign travel guides.

The deal comes at a time when Japan is looking to encourage tourism in order to help revive the economy and promote the country in the run up to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Measures include making visa regulations less stringent and relaxing duty-free restrictions,

Japan National Tourism Organization reveals that a record 13.4 million foreigners visited Japanese last year, a 29% jump from the previous year. The government is targeting 20 million visitors by 2020.

Bain Capital has track record for growing Japanese chain operators; last year it took restaurant chain Skylark public in a JPY75.1 billion IPO. Prior to that it controlled take-away franchise Dominos Pizza Japan which it sold to it Australian counterpart for JPY12 billion in 2013.

 

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