East Asia

The asset manager is in market with its debut artificial intelligence fund and was gearing up to launch a brace of Chinese private equity funds this year.

MBK's China portfolio posted a 45% gain last year, compared with 29% and 12% percent for Korea and Japan, respectively, founder Michael B Kim noted in a letter to LPs.

Consolidating small and mid-sized Japanese companies is an effective value creation strategy that can also attract talent in a tight labour market, say J-STAR’s Yuki Kashiyama, Huan Zhao and Norio Adachi

Idiosyncrasies in fund structuring, tax and regulation create distinctive tests for buyers and sellers considering GP-led processes in Japan.

Japanese private equity is entering a golden age – and empowering women in the workforce will drive further growth, says NSSK’s Jun Tsusaka and Ryoji Kanamori.

Tokyo Stock Exchange reforms are presenting take-private opportunities for GPs, including KKR.

An influx of managers coming to Japan has led to increased competition for Japanese PE talent, says Tokyo-based Atlas Recruitment’s Gavin Smith.

Japan’s private markets brace for greater levels of interest.

Active primary fund investing and increasing LP appetite for co-investments, secondaries and direct lending are indicative of Japan’s maturing private markets landscape, say Neuberger Berman’s Jonathan Shofet and Yoshi Yagisawa.

International GPs and LPs increasingly view Japan as one of the hottest growth markets for private equity as it gets lifted by macro tailwinds.