Ant Capital is a joint venture between Nikko Principal Investments Japan and antfactory Holdings of the UK, now known as Seymour Pierce Group. In November 2009, Norinchukin and Mitsubishi took 38% and 19% stakes respectively. Ant Capital’s management holds 34% and Citigroup holds 9%.
According to Kazunori Ozaki, CEO, it will be the firm’s first to seek funding from overseas and domestic investors. Reportedly, Ant Capital, with over $1.3bn in assets under management, has committed $384m since 2001 through three buyout funds.
Mr Ozaki said: “The real vintage year for private equity investment will be 2010. Investors are still holding their purse strings tight, but we’re slowly starting to see some action. What we do is hands-on restructuring with the invested firms to create value.”
In an interview, Ryosuke Iinuma, head of private- equity investment group, said: “Like its previous funds, Ant Catalyzer No. 4 will invest in about 10 companies and targets an internal rate of return of about 30%,” reported the news agency.
