Carlyle completes $800 million purchase of Tsubaki

HONG KONG: Carlyle Group has completed the largest private equity buyout in Japan since 2009, buying Tsubaki Nakashima Co for around $800 million from a unit of Nomura Holdings despite disruption caused by the earthquake.

Carlyle announced the acquisition on March 1, before the devastating earthquake struck Japan, and raised doubts over the future of deals.

"The earthquake will have a considerable impact on Japan as a whole, but we believe that Tsubaki Nakashima's fundamental competitiveness will remain unaffected," said Tamotsu Adachi, managing director and co-head of Carlyle Japan Partners.

"We hope to contribute to the recovery of the Japanese economy through growing Tsubaki Nakashima's business."

Carlyle's buyout of Tsubaki had raised expectations of more private equity deals in a market where buyout funds have struggled to source deals and justify their commitment to the world's third-largest economy.

This is the largest buyout by a private equity firm in Japan since Bain Capital bought telemarketing firm Bellsystem24 Inc from Citigroup for around $1 billion.

Carlyle launched a 215.6 billion yen Japan fund in 2006. A significant portion of the money has yet to be spent.

The value of transactions completed by private equity firms in Japan, which peaked in 2007 with $22.5 billion, fell to $3.2 billion last year.