Advantage Partners has returned to market with its eighth Japan buyout fund, targeting JPY 250bn (USD 1.65bn), according to four sources familiar with the situation.

The private equity firm launched the data room for the fundraising process earlier this week, three of the sources said. One added that Advantage has drawn up a timeline featuring in-person due diligence sessions in October and an intended first close at the end of February.

Should Advantage hit target, this would be its largest fund to date, eclipsing the JPY 215bn raised for Fund IV in 2007. The firm subsequently ran into difficulty, embarking on a rebuild that saw it move from JPY 60bn to JPY 85bn to JPY 130bn over the past three vintages.

Fund VII closed at its hard cap in April 2023. The 2.5-year gap between close and new launch is the same as the last vintage, suggesting equally rapid deployment.

Speaking to AVCJ after Fund VII closed, Shinichiro Kita, a senior partner responsible for Advantage’s buyout strategy, noted that Fund VI had been put to work “very efficiently and very effectively.” He added that the firm sees so many opportunities, “the only bottleneck for us is people.”

Other mid-market Japanese GPs have made similar observations as they return to market with ever larger fund targets.

NSSK is seeking JPY 200bn for its fourth flagship fund, having raised JPY 100bn last time round. Jun Tsusaka, the firm’s founding managing partner, told AVCJ in mid-2024 that he had expected Fund III to be invested across 3.5 years. It was on track to be done in about two years.

Japan private equity fundraising reached a record USD 13.9bn in 2024, with USD 8bn of that going to buyout strategies, according to AVCJ Research. This included final closes for the likes of Carlyle and Integral Corporation – both roughly doubled their totals from the prior vintage.

This year has been slower, with USD 6.3bn raised to date. This includes JPY 67bn from D Capital, which closed its second fund in April, having attracted global LP support for the first time. The manager raised JPY 31.5bn for its first fund.

In addition to NSSK, Bain Capital is targeting approximately USD 2bn for its second Japan fund, having raised USD 1bn for Fund I. Meanwhile, Unison Capital is seeking JPY 80bn for its sixth fund, and Nippon Investment Company spin-out J-Inc is targeting JPY 60bn for its first.

Advantage has four strategies: Japan mid-market private equity; private solutions, which focuses on listed companies that lack the resources to unlock corporate value; Asia ex-Japan private equity; and renewables and sustainability, which includes a fund focused on hydrogen energy opportunities globally.

Recent buyout activity includes tender offer processes for Nihon Chouzai and Furukawa Battery, the acquisition of Maftec Group and Space Value Holdings from Apollo Global Management and Polaris Capital Group, respectively, and the sale of FICT to MBK Partners and US-based FormFactor.

Advantage sold a GP stake to Tokyo Century Corporation, a domestic leasing business and longstanding LP, in 2019. Earlier this year, Tokyo Century increased its holding from 14.9% to 33.3%.

Advantage declined to comment on fundraising.