North Asia
Warburg Pincus set for another partial exit from ESR
Warburg Pincus has agreed to make another partial exit from ESR, the pan-Asian logistics real estate platform it established in 2011 and took public last year, which will see its stake fall to 4.56%.
Warburg Pincus, Advantage honored at AVCJ Awards
Warburg Pincus and Advantage Partners triumphed in the firm of the year categories at the 2020 AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Capital Awards, with The Carlyle Group and Affinity Equity Partners also among the winners with two trophies apiece.
KKR agrees $1.6b carve-out of Walmart's Japan business
KKR has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Seiyu, a Japanese supermarket operator controlled by US-headquartered Walmart, in a deal that values the business at JPY172.5 billion ($1.6 billion).
Virtual AGMs & IR: Up in the air
Private equity firms are still finding their feet with annual meetings that no longer take place on the ground. Like it or not, virtual engagement is set to become a larger part of investor relations from now on
J-Star exits Japan TV shopping business via trade sale
J-Star has sold Itty, a Japanese TV shopping business that specializes in healthy living products, to local broadcaster TV Asahi Corporation for an undisclosed sum.
ADIA, OTTP invest $1.2b in renewables-focused Equis
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTTP) have confirmed a $1.2 billion investment in Asia-focused renewable energy owner-operator Equis Development.
Polaris hits hard cap on fifth Japan fund, prepares for final close
Polaris Capital Group has reached the hard cap of JPY150 billion ($1.4 billion) for its fifth Japan buyout fund and expects to announce a final close later this month, according to CEO Yuji Kimura.
Carlyle targets Japan environmental business buyout - update
The Carlyle Group has launched a JPY37 billion ($355 million) buyout offer that would see it take control of Japan Asia Group, the Tokyo-listed holding company for several Japanese environment-related businesses, and two key subsidiaries.
Japan edge computing start-up raises $19m
Idein, a Japanese start-up focused on device-level data processing technology, also known as edge computing, has raised a JPY2 billion ($19.2 million) round featuring Global Brain.
Japan fundraising: Middle-market machine
Buoyed by strong macro fundamentals and robust returns, Japan’s buyout managers continue to attract capital while most other strategies across Asia struggle. Will this popularity be sustained?
Japan logistics tech provider raises $16.7m
Japanese logistics technology start-up Openlogi has raised JPY1.7 billion ($16.7 million) in an ongoing Series C round featuring Sumitomo Corporation.
Japan's Genesia Ventures closes second fund at $75m
Japanese early-stage investor Genesia Ventures has reached a final close of $75 million for its second fund, doubling the size of the previous vintage.
Japan's Drone Fund secures anchor LPs for third vintage
Japan’s Drone Fund has reached a first close of undisclosed size on its third VC fund, with SMBC Nikko Securities and NTT Docomo coming in as anchor LPs. The target is JPY10 billion ($95 million).
Japan's aStart launches second dedicated space tech fund
Japanese VC investor aStart has raised JPY3.8 billion ($36 million) for its second fund dedicated to space tech. The vehicle remains open.
Profile: Jihoon Rim
Jihoon Rim has been a venture capitalist, CEO of one of Korea’s largest technology companies, and a US business school professor – in the space of a decade. He explains the appeal of new challenges
Japanese LPs stress importance of consistent deployment - AVCJ Forum
Institutional investors must maintain a reasonable pace of deployment in alternatives despite the coronavirus pandemic fostering economic uncertainty and hindering efforts to perform due diligence on managers, the AVCJ Japan Virtual Forum heard.
Japan space debris start-up raises $191m Series E
Astroscale, a Japanese space tech start-up dedicated to cleaning up orbital debris, has closed its Series E round at $191 million with support from local investors aStart and Sparx Group.
Deal focus: VR gaming comes of age
Japanese videogame publishing company Thirdverse believes the time is right to bring virtual reality entertainment to the masses. VCs with expertise in the sector are beginning to agree
Polaris wins PSERS support for $1.4b Japan fund
Polaris Capital Group has won support from Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) for a Japan buyout fund of up to JPY150 billion ($1.4 billion), twice the size of its 2016 vintage predecessor.
Q&A: Unison Capital's Tatsuo Kawasaki
Tatsuo Kawasaki, a partner at Unison Capital, on supporting existing investments and making new ones, expectations of distress in Japan, and why a platform approach makes sense for healthcare
Jafco backs Japan VR game developer
Japan’s Jafco has led an $8.5 million Series A round for local virtual reality (VR) game developer Thirdverse.
Bain launches Japan fund
Bain Capital has launched a dedicated Japan fund with a target of JPY100 billion ($946 million) as local and foreign managers ready themselves for a much-anticipated rise in buyout deal flow in the country.
Japan voice AI player RevComm raises $14m Series A
RevComm, a Japan-based voice recognition artificial intelligence (AI) technology provider, has closed its Series A round at JPY1.5 billion ($14.2 million) with support from several local VCs.
J-Star acquires Japan aquaculture business
Japanese lower middle market private equity firm J-Star has acquired local aquaculture industry supplier Dainichi for an undisclosed sum.
