EQT has made a $2.7 billion tender offer to take Tokyo-listed elevator manufacturer Fujitec private, potentially making it the firm’s largest Japanese investment to date.
The offer, which comes via EQT’s Asia vehicle BPEA Private Equity Fund IX, would see EQT pay 5,700 yen per share (about $38.25) to acquire all shares it does not already control.
Fujitec’s founding family will roll over a roughly 15% stake, ensuring the 77‑year‑old company retains a domestic anchor shareholder.
With the offer price still below Fujitec’s recent market highs, there is a risk that the deal could still meet with shareholder resistance over valuation.
The company has also been a target of activist investor Oasis Management, which reportedly controls about 30% of the company and has clashed with Fujitec’s board in the push for deeper reform.
EQT has made three deals in Japan, including one add-on, since it opened its Tokyo office in 2021. The Stockholm-listed firm, which has had an Asia office in Hong Kong since 2006, significantly expanded its footprint in the region in 2022 when it acquired Baring Private Equity Asia.
Other EQT deals in the country include last year’s $1.4 billion buyout of education services group Benesse Holdings, and the acquisition of mid-market HR software business, HRBrain, for an undisclosed amount.
According to PitchBook’s Q1 2025 Japan Market Snapshot, PE deal count in the region has steadily increased in recent years, reaching a record high of 78 transactions in Q4 2024.
Several tailwinds are driving renewed interest and growth. For one, Japan’s ultra-low-interest-rate environment and the yen’s weakness against the US dollar have created attractive entry points for foreign investors. As a result, non-domestic investor participation in Japan’s PE market has steadily increased.
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