CITIC Capital Partners Limited, the private equity arm of CITIC Capital Holdings Limited, is pleased to announce the final closing of its third Japan buyout fund at its hard cap of JPY30 billion.

The amount raised is well beyond the initial target of JPY25 billion as the fund was practically oversubscribed relative to the hard cap due to significant demand from existing and new investors. In an oversubscribed fundraise, the fund attracted both Japanese and non-Japanese institutional investors, including sovereign wealth fund, financial institutions, pension fund and fund–of-funds.

Mr. Yichen ZHANG, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of CITIC Capital, stated: “We are delighted by the strong support we received from both existing and new investors. Their support is a recognition of our success in establishing a strong franchise in the Japan PE market, and a validation of the tremendous investment opportunity presented by Japanese companies requiring backing in their international expansion, and our deep network of China relationships. We look forward to expanding our Japan franchise through CCJP III.”

Mr. Hironobu NAKANO, head of CITIC Capital Partners’ Japan operations, said: “Over the past twelve years we have been steadily accumulating our unique experiences in helping Japanese companies to successfully increase their corporate values by leveraging our China value-add capability. Based on our track record, we are very happy to see the final closing of CCJP III with a wider variety of sophisticated institutional investors.”

CCP launched its first Japan buyout fund in 2004 and since then has been an active player in the Japan PE market sponsoring the growth of mid-sized portfolio companies with its unique China angle and resources. Through the last two funds, the maiden fund of JPY 16.9 billion (launched in 2004) and its successor fund of JPY 18.2 billion (launched in 2010), CCP has successfully helped a number of Japanese companies in the manufacturing, retail and logistic sectors, all of which have generated strong returns for its investors.

The third fund has already made three investments to date and CCP is looking to make approximately 10 investments in total, focusing on consumer goods and services, in addition to manufacturing. These sectors are expected to benefit from strong growth in China arising from a structural transformation of its economy into a domestic consumption-driven one.

CCJP III made its first investment with MARK STYLER Co., Ltd., a leading young women’s apparel company. It operates over 170 direct stores across Japan with an e-commerce portal and considers foreign expansion into China a major growth driver together with further enhancement of its domestic business.

CCJP III also purchased Akakura Co., Ltd., a women’s footwear retailing company, through its civil rehabilitation proceedings, and is now leading its revitalization process to grow again.

The most recent investment by CCJP III is a diagnostic drug company which is one of the leading players in the Japanese market. The company believes China/Asia will be a huge market with a growing demand for quality products and solutions to combat infection diseases.

CITIC Capital Partners is strongly committed to supporting the management teams and employees of the companies it acquires, and to unlocking their corporate values further through improvement and expansion of business operation both in the domestic and overseas markets.

About CITIC Capital Holdings Limited
Founded in 2002, CITIC Capital Holdings Limited, is an alternative investment management and advisory company. The firm manages over USD18.7 billion of capital from a diverse group of international institutional investors. Core businesses include Private Equity, Real Estate, Structured Investment & Finance, and Asset Management.

CITIC Capital Holdings currently employs over 200 staff members throughout its offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Tokyo and New York.

For more information, visit: www.citiccapital.com

About CITIC Capital Partners Limited

CITIC Capital Partners Limited, the private equity arm of CITIC Capital Holdings Limited, operates in China, the US and Japan, and currently manages USD 4.5billion of committed capital on behalf of over 60 international investors. CITIC Capital Partners’ funds invest globally and work with management teams to help companies realize their full potential.