Polaris To Sell Some Shares In Ekitan

Polaris Capital Group Co., Ltd., a leading private equity firm, annnounced Polaris sold a portion of the shares(26.2%) in Ekitan & Co. Ltd., a listed traffic-related information provider, to CSI, a listed health-related information provider. Polaris acquired Ekitan in October 2007 via MBO from Toshiba. Ekitan went public in March 2011. Polaris still hold the about 25% share in Ekitan as a major shareholder.

TPG To Sponsor Failed Condo. Developer

Joint Corporation, a failed condominium-focused real estate developer, announced that TPG, a global private equity firm, and Savills Japan, a London-based real estate service provider, acquired all shares of Joint Corporation from its former sponsor Reno Corp.. Their joint venture, TPG Savills Financial Holdings, Ltd., will manage the failed but recovering developer. Joint went bankrupt in May 2009.

MUL Principal To Exit Investment In Tarami

Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co., Ltd., a major leasing company, announced its investment unit MUL Principal Investment Co., Ltd., has sold all shares of Tarami Co., a Nagasaki-based fruit jelly producer, to DyDo DRINKO, INC., a leading soft drink maker. MUL Principal invested in October 2009.

ALC To Go Private Via MBO With Nippon Mirai Capital

ALC Press Inc., a listed language-focused educational service provider, announced that ALC approved a tender offer from an investment vehicle by Nippon Mirai Capital Co., Ltd., a medium-sized private equity firm. The TOB price is set at 27,500 yen, a 33.73% premium over its 3-month average. Shinsei Bank is ready to provide up to 2.6 billion yen in financing. ALC went public in August 2006.

Asahi To Acquire Beverage Maker From Ajinomoto

Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., a beer-based beverage conglomerate, announced that Asahi will acquire all outstanding shares of Calpis Cp., Ltd., a soft drink maker, from Ajinomoto Co., Inc., a major seasoning manufacturer. Asahi will pay about 119 billion yen. Calpis is proud of its 107 billion yen in sales as of March 2012. Asahi aims to expand its soft drink business through this deal, and will become the No.3 player following Coca-Cola and Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd. Ajinomoto purchased Calpis in 2007.

Daiwa PI To Exit Investment In Meisei Elec.

IHI Corp.,  a heavy industrial machines conglomerate, announced that IHI has made a tender offer for Meisei Electric Company, a PE-backed measuring equipments manufacturer. The TOB price is set at 90 yen, an 8.16% discount to its 3-month average. Major shareholders Daiwa SMBC Principal Investment Co., an investment unit of Daiwa Securities Group and NEC agreed to the offer. Meisei will remain on the stock exchange after the deal. Daiwa invested in Feburary 2003.

New Horizon To Exit Investment In Housetec

New Horizon Capital Co., Ltd., an independent private equity firm, announced that New Horizon and Yamada Denki Co., Ltd., a major mass discount home electronics retailer, signed a share-transfer agreement for all shares of Housetec Holdings, a housing equipment and environmental facilities manufacturer. New Horizon acquired struggling Housetec from Hitachi Chemical in January 2008. Yamada Denki has been an aggressive M&A player, purchasing SXL Co., Ltd., a listed house maker, from Nomura investment group in August 2011.

Unison To Acquire Showa Yakuhin From Funds

Unison Capital, Inc., a major private equity firm, announced that Unison will acquire all shares of Showa Yakuhin Kako Co., Ltd., a medium-sized pharmaceutical company, held by Tokio Marine Capital, Polaris Capital Group, and PineBridge Japan Partners. They invested in April 2008.

Asahi To Acquire Beverage Maker From Ajinomoto

Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., a beer-based beverage conglomerate, announced that Asahi will acquire all outstanding shares of Calpis Co., Ltd., a soft drink maker, from Ajinomoto Co., Inc., a major seasoning manufacturer. Asahi will pay about 100 billion yen to Ajinomoto. Calpis is proud of its 107 billion yen net sales as of March 2012. Asahi is aiming to expand its soft drink business through this deal and will become the No.3 player following the Coca-Cola group and Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd..

Micron Picked To Sponsor Failed Elpida

Elpida Memory Inc., a bankrupt DRAM maker, has informally announced its choice of major US chipmaker Micron Technology Inc. as the sponsor of its rehabilitation efforts, according to the Nikkei. Micron is expected to pay more than 200 billion yen to acquire Elpida. In the second round of bidding held last Friday, a consortium of China's Hony Capital and US-based TPG Capital also participated and failed. The Korean chip maker SK Hynix Inc. announced before the auction that it won't be proceeding with a bid for Elpida. SK Hynix once said that it might work with possible partners such as Toshiba to bid. Consequently there are no major Japanese electronics manufacturers who are engaged in the global DRAM market that they once dominated.

Biznet To Go Private

Biznet Corp., an office supply procurement servicer, announced that Biznet approved a tender offer from its parent company Plus Co. The TOB price is set at 102 yen, a 36% premium over its 3-month average. Plus Co. is a stationary manufacturer as well as a 49% shareholder of Biznet. Biznet went public in August 2005.