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EY’s Kirk Shimizuishi says a unique combination of factors is driving investment opportunity in Japan and causing its private equity market to flourish.

Attractive competitive dynamics, value creation potential and monetisation optionality make the mid-market ideal for GP stakes, say Investcorp Strategic Capital Group’s Anthony Maniscalco and Weston Wilkinson.

Interest in the Japanese private market is at an all-time high, but the opportunities making Japan a popular investment destination were not created overnight, say Unison Capital’s TJ Kono and Daimon Punjabi.

The GP stakes industry is now old enough that LPs can demand track records and not simply projections, says Robert Hamilton Kelly, global co-head of Petershill strategies at Goldman Sachs.

Next-generation managers may be an acquired taste for asset owners, but the potential for alignment can create attractive GP opportunities, according to Wafra’s Adel Alderbas and Gustavo Cardenas.

Japanese small and mid-market businesses have historically eschewed M&A strategies, but as this changes, new roll-up opportunities are emerging, say J-STAR’s Tatsuya Yumoto and Hiromoto Kida.

In the mid-market, effective GP stakes strategies prioritise thoughtful growth while staying true to a firm’s core values, explains Brad Pilcher, partner at Bonaccord Capital Partners.

Now that continuation funds are providing fresh liquidity options, LPs are waking up to the appeal of GP stakes investing, according to Proskauer partners Jennifer Dunn, Grant Darwin and Ryan Carpenter.