BY Richard Summerfield
Private equity giant Carlyle Group has raised $2.3bn (¥258bn) for its fourth Japanese buyout fund, Carlyle Japan Partners IV ( CJP IV).
The fund will focus on targets shed by conglomerates as well as succession deals. Specifically, it will focus on upper mid-market investment opportunities in Japan across consumer, retail and healthcare, general industries and technology, media and telecoms. It will also pursue large-cap investments on an opportunistic basis.
The fund received strong backing from domestic and global investors and is more than double the size of its predecessor fund, CJP III, which raised ¥120bn.
“Our investments over the past 20 years have earned us the trust and support of our investors, who we would like to thank for their continued confidence in our ability to create value and drive performance,” said Kazuhiro Yamada, head of Carlyle Japan in a statement. “We are seeing growing opportunities in Japan across succession and carve-out deals, and with this larger fund and strengthened leadership, we believe we are well-positioned to capture these.”
“We have been a driving force in the development of the Japanese private equity market for two decades, combining our deep local knowledge with our global platform to create significant long-term value for our investors and for Japanese companies,” said Kewsong Lee, co-CEO of The Carlyle Group. “We are excited about how the market is evolving and will strive to further build out our Japan business by partnering with strong management teams and high potential companies to drive growth and value over the long-term.”
Corporate asset acquisitions are likely to range between ¥20bn and ¥40bn, though for larger deals the firm will also use money from other funds in Asia, Europe and the US.
News: Carlyle raises $2.3 billion for its biggest Japan fund to date