Jan 22 2021, 6:21 AM January 21 2021, 2:30 AM January 22 2021, 6:21 AM (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Private equity firms are circling Japan Inc., looking to carve out parts of large, cumbersome conglomerates. Enticing as the targets are, turning them into returns could be tough. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Private equity firms are circling Japan Inc., looking to carve out parts of large, cumbersome conglomerates. Enticing as the targets are, turning them into returns could be tough. Buyout funds have eyed Japan for years, but theyâre getting increasingly eager. Several have already been active there. Others, like Apollo Global Management, are venturing in. Conglomerate-style Japanese companies shedding non-core assets makes for ripe pickings. With interest rates so low, financing acquisitions is cheap and easy. The broader industrial upcycle, stimulated by efforts to recover from the coronavirus, could even prove a tailwind in turning around businesses and dressing them up for an eventual exit. Layer on the leverage, and it makes for all the trappings of private equityâs headline double-digit internal rates of return.Â