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By Anton Bridge and Miho Uranaka
TOKYO (Reuters) -Tokyo-based investment firm Japan Activation Capital (JAC) said on Thursday it had closed its second fund at 77 billion yen ($511.93 million), bringing the total amount it has raised from domestic institutional investors to about 210 billion yen.
JAC was established in 2023 by a former Carlyle Group executive in Japan, Hiroyuki Otsuka, to invest in mid- to large-cap listed Japanese firms, partnering with growth-minded management teams to achieve "private equity style value creation."
The second fund's close comes as Japanese authorities intensify efforts to promote investment in the domestic stock market.
JAC's first fund, which closed in April 2024, raised 130 billion yen, primarily from Japanese mega-banks and insurance companies. The firm said the second fund was backed by a wider range of domestic investors, including regional banks, government-related funds and a university endowment.
"In a shrinking domestic market, our desire to support firms' growth and raise their profile by taking proactive steps led to investor interest," Otsuka told Reuters in an interview.
JAC's strategy is to build constructive relationships with company executives and to only invest with their approval, he said. "It's important to strengthen companies' fundamentals through engagement," Otsuka added.
JAC's first investment was in Lion Corp, a manufacturer of toothbrushes, soaps, detergents and other daily goods, in October 2024, for an undisclosed sum.
Lion released an updated medium-term management plan last month, the day after which its stock price jumped 18%. Lion's stock price is up around 13% from the closing price the day before JAC's investment was announced.
JAC is currently discussing investment with around 20 companies and intends for each investment to be in the region of tens of billions of yen, Otsuka said.
"There are an increasing number of a new generation of proactive company managers who want to raise the growth stage of their companies by partnering with a fund," he added.
($1 = 150.4100 yen)
(Reporting by Anton Bridge and Miho Uranaka. Editing by Jamie Freed and Mark Potter)
