Investcorp To Establish Itself In Japanese Markets, Opens Firm In Tokyo

Investcorp has announced its entry into the Japanese market with the establishment of a Tokyo office.

This will enable the firm to offer global alternative investment solutions in Japan, as well as lay the groundwork for direct private equity and real estate investments in the Japanese market.

Professor Heizo Takenaka has also been named Chairman of Investcorp Japan by the company.

Professor Takenaka began his tenure as Japan's Minister of Economic/Fiscal Policy in 2001, before expanding his mandate to include Financial Services in 2002 and the privatisation of The Postal Services in 2004, before becoming Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications from 2005 to 2006.

He is currently a Professor Emeritus at Keio University and a Professor at Toyo University, as well as a member of the World Economic Forum Foundation Board and Investcorp's International Advisory Board since July 2020.

Mohammed Alardhi, executive chairman, Investcorp commented: “We are looking forward to further expand our base of Japanese investors and bring new investment capital into the region, namely from the GCC. We are excited to work with Professor Takenaka and our growing team on the ground to develop our offerings in Japan for the benefit of our clients, partners, and other stakeholders in the country.”

Hazem Ben-Gacem, co-CEO, Investcorp, added: “We are very proud to launch our operations in Japan and to be opening an office in Tokyo. Our Asian footprint today is more prominent than ever. Increasingly, Japanese investors are seeking access to global alternative investment strategies that we are well positioned to provide given our decades of experience in Asia. We are proud to build on our existing relations with Japanese investors who currently allocate more than USD two billion dollars of AUM to our investment products”.

Takenaka said: “In an era of high inflation rate and volatile currency fluctuations, coupled with the aging demography, Japan needs to promote foreign investments by sophisticated investors to improve the asset return. Investcorp’s rich experience in global alternative investments would contribute to our wealth management industry at its inflexion point, which calls for a shift from savings to investments.”

The Tokyo team will be part of the company's larger Asia team, which includes 40 professionals working across Asia.

In other news, Investcorp announced last month that it intends to invest up to $1 billion in the GCC real estate market over the next five years.

This comes on the heels of its first real estate acquisition in Saudi Arabia. The investment is in a brand new temperature-controlled warehouse of 215,000 square feet in Dammam. This is the first of a $100 million real estate investment in the kingdom that the firm is currently evaluating.

Racking Systems Logistics Services Company, a third-party logistics company that serves the Saudi market in the temperature-controlled warehousing and distribution segment, has fully leased the Dammam warehouse.

The investment in the warehouse, which can hold up to 32,000 pallets of goods, brings the total value of the company's global warehousing logistics investments to more than $4 billion, or 42 million square feet of industrial space.