KKR and JIC take Japan’s Topcon private for $2.31 billion #JapanFinance

TOKYO (Reuters) -U.S.-based private equity firm KKR and Japanese state-backed fund Japan Investment Corp (JIC) will acquire medical gear maker Topcon in a tender offer buyout worth 348 billion yen ($2.31 billion), KKR said on Friday.

Private equity deals in Japan have been booming as corporate governance reforms and increasingly vocal activist shareholders push more companies to go private.

KKR will hold the majority interest and JIC a minority interest, while Topcon president and chief executive Takashi Eto will also participate in the tender offer.

It is the first time that JIC, which is overseen by Japan’s trade ministry, has teamed up with a global private equity firm, a JIC spokesperson said.

The tender offer price of 3,300 per share marks a 5.4% premium on Topcon’s closing price of 3,130 yen on Friday and a 99.5% premium over the simple average closing price of Topcon’s stock for the 12 months up to December 9, 2024, KKR said.

The transaction is the latest in a wave of take-private deals among Japanese firms after activist investor pressure. Topcon’s two largest investors are both activists – ValueAct Capital and Oasis Management – holding stakes of 13.69% and 10.58%, respectively, based on LSEG data.

Other examples include chemicals company JSR and software developer Fuji Soft, which was acquired in January by KKR after a protracted bidding war with rival private equity group Bain Capital.

($1 = 150.5200 yen)

(Reporting by Anton Bridge and Makiko Yamazaki. Editing by David Evans and Jane Merriman)