Japanese mid-market buyout firm Advantage Partners has announced raising 130 billion yen (about $970 million) in the final close of its latest Japan-focused fund, exceeding its 120-billion yen target.
Fund VII Series Funds attracted a diverse set of investors, including insurance companies, asset management firms, banks, global funds of funds, pension funds, and other institutional investors, per the announcement.
The firm is currently deploying from its sixth Japan buyout fund, which closed in early 2020 above its target at 85 billion yen. In 2018 it closed Asia Fund I, which invests in Greater China and Southeast Asia, at $380 million.
Set up in 1992 by Folsom and Taisuke Sasanuma, both former Bain & Company management consultants, Advantage Partners was the first private equity firm in Japan.
It focused on buyouts in Japan until 2016, when it launched its Asia Fund I, targeting mid-market companies with enterprise values of between $50-150 million.
The latest fund will continue to focus on the Japanese middle market, which the firm believes to be the most attractive. It will invest in businesses in a wide range of industries and from a variety of sources, including founder/owner succession, corporate carve-outs, and public-to-privates.
In an interview with DealStreetAsia in March, Advantage Partners’ co-founder and representative partner Richard Folsom said the firm is stepping up its investments in Southeast Asia and also venture into India.
Singapore-based Rahul Bhargava, who joined the firm in December as partner and co-head of Asia, will lead the firm’s efforts in the two regions, including hiring a team for India.
“We have adjusted our geographic coverage with Southeast Asia as the core, adding India going forward, and looking at opportunities in Taiwan and China selectively,” said Folsom earlier said.
The firm’s Asia fund portfolio has a significant Southeast Asia weighting, and includes Malaysian companies Pharmaforte, a drug marketer and distributor; and aluminium and zinc die caster EKO Grp Industries; Vietnamese fashion retailer Elise; and IT software and services company MDI Novare in the Philippines. It has also invested in an egg producer Shih An Farm in Taiwan.