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Japan has long been a tough nut to crack for US and European private equity firms.
Back in 2012, when I began a stint covering Japan s PE market, one of the first deals I reported on was KKR s attempt to buy chipmaker Renesas.
Loathe to see a US buyer take control, an investor group that included the government-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan swooped in to buy the loss-making company. At the time, that outcome painted a bleak picture of Japan s buyout market for foreign investors.
Nearly a decade later, deals by KKR and other PE investors represent a sign that recent changes in Japan s corporate landscape are beginning to produce rewards for foreign firms in a market renowned for its limitations.
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TOKYO (Reuters) - Recent carve-out deals by tech giants such as Hitachi Ltd are just the beginning of potential divestitures of non-core assets by Japanese firms, U.S. buyout firm Carlyle Group’s Japan chief said.
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The comments come as Carlyle recently successfully exited one of its own investments and sees plenty of opportunities for private equity firms in the horizon in Japan.
“These are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Kazuhiro Yamada in an interview with Reuters, referring to a flurry of recent non-core asset sales by Hitachi, Panasonic Corp, and Toshiba Corp .
“There are still a substantial number of firms with hundreds of subsidiaries in Japan, and these firms are considering various options.”
Carve-out deals by tech firms just tip of the iceberg : Carlyle Japan chief metro.us - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from metro.us Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.