Japan recorded 10 deals involving private equity houses in March 2024 excluding growth capital raises of start-ups, according to Mergermarket data.

Of the 10, six are buyouts and the remaining four provided an exit for PE firms. None of them disclosed the size of the deals, Mergermarket data show.

The most significant deal was Panasonic Holdings [TYO:6752]’s divestiture of Panasonic Automotive Systems (PAS) to Apollo Global Management [NYSE:APO]. Panasonic and Apollo reached a basic agreement on the divestiture on 17 November 2023, and they reached a formal agreement on 29 March 2024.

Under the latest agreement, Panasonic will divest all of its stake in the automotive component manufacturing unit to Apollo, and then acquire a 20% stake in a holding company that will own all the stake of the new parent company of PAS.

The final transfer price is to be decided based on the enterprise value JPY 311bn less approx. JPY 70bn (totaling approx. JPY 240bn) with adjustment due to several factors, according to the announcement.

Among other significant deals is Integral [TYO:5842]’s announcement on 21 March to exit from Skymark Airlines [TYO:9204] by divesting its 5.9% stake to local logistics services provider Suzuyo Holdings. 

On 1 March, Advantage Partners announced to divest all the shares of Japanese confectionary maker Nihon Meikasouhonpo to local restaurant chain operator Colowide [TYO:7616], according to Mergermarket data.