Private Equity News & Analysis

Daiwa SMBC invites bids for Q'Sai

Key Asian buyout firms are among the potential buyers the Japanese private equity firm has approached for the vegetable juice producer, which it reportedly bought for $648m in 2006.

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Daiwa SMBC Capital, a listed firm investing in venture capital and buyouts, is selling Q’Sai, a Japanese vegetable juice producer, and has solicited bids from a number of potential buyers, including large Asian private equity firms, a source has confirmed.

The firms named as potential bidders in a Reuters report are The Carlyle Group, MBK Partners, CVC Asia Pacific, Advantage Partners and Unison Capital. 

Carlyle, CVC Asia Pacific, Unison Capital and Advantage Partners declined to comment. MBK Partners was unavailable for comment. Daiwa SMBC did not respond to a request for comment.

Daiwa SMBC acquired the juice maker in a management buyout for about ¥60 billion (€479 million; $648 million) in 2006, the report noted. If Daiwa SMBC’s sale of Q’Sai goes ahead as planned, it could be the largest private equity transaction in Japan since Bain Capital’s November acquisition of a 93.5 stake in telemarketing company BellSystem24, in a deal that valued the company at ¥100 billion.

Q’Sai manufactures and sells health food products in Japan. The company produces vegetable juice, girdles and cosmetics. It also manufactures processed eggs and confectionary. 

Daiwa SMBC is a principal investment firm with a focus on venture capital and buyouts. Its venture capital activity is focused on the technology and life sciences sectors, while in the buyout space, the firm targets medium-sized businesses, primarily focusing on companies with management succession issues and the non-core businesses of large local conglomerates.