The mergers and acquisitions market in Japan is heating up, with global investment giants such as Carlyle Group Inc (CG.US) accelerating the expansion of their local teams.

Notice that, with the surge in mergers and acquisitions in Japan, Carlyle Group Inc (CG.US), Hopu and many global investment companies are planning to increase their manpower in Japan. However, for the majority of the past 20 years, the number of mergers and acquisitions in Japan has been relatively low, making it difficult to find professionals. Carlyle Group Inc has been investing in Japan for over 20 years. The company raised $2.8 billion in May for its fifth and largest Japanese acquisition fund. Takaomi Tomioka, Co-Head of Carlyle Group's Japan business, said that in the next two years, the company hopes to add 10 more people to its 25-person local investment team. He said, We plan to invest approximately 100 billion yen in three to four transactions each year. In order to execute such a number of transactions and manage portfolio companies, we need to strengthen our team. Two sources revealed that Advent International, an American acquisition company, has been in talks with senior private equity professionals in Japan for the past few months, seeking to establish a local office and investment team in Tokyo. Both sources stated that Hopu has hired former Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. banker Takashi Murata as Head of Japan Business and Co-Head of Asia Real Estate this year. Hopu is also looking to establish an office in Tokyo and expand its local team. One of the sources stated that since the hiring of Takashi Murata, the company has added three people responsible for its Japan business. This recruitment frenzy highlights the intensity of mergers and acquisitions in Japan. While global M&A activity has slowed in recent years, Japan has been a rare bright spot. A report from consulting firm Bain & Company shows that Japan became the largest private equity transaction market in the Asia-Pacific region last year, accounting for 30% of the total transactions in the region, driven mainly by privatization deals. This proportion was historically much smaller, only 5% to 10%. Accelerated recruitment Traders and recruiters say that, overall, there are dozens of positions vacant in private equity, real estate, and infrastructure funds in Japan, ranging from senior management positions to entry-level positions. A senior trader at a global acquisition fund in Tokyo said that this year he received calls from at least three other companies wanting to establish a presence in the country. The trader declined to disclose his identity. The Bain report states that from 2012 to 2024, the number of fund managers with offices in Japan managing funds of at least 50 billion yen that are focused on recent acquisitions or turning losses into profits has doubled, and more new investors are ready to enter the market. Gavin Smith, Managing Director of Atlas Recruitment in Tokyo, said, Over the past few years, the significant increase in private equity activity in Japan has noticeably accelerated recruitment in the industry. The company is recruiting nearly 60 investment positions in Japan. However, Smith said that over the past three years, recruitment competition has become more intense as the available pool of candidates is insufficient to meet the growing demand. Taku Maeda, Managing Partner of Corporate Support Research Institute (CSRI), said that as more funds flow into Japan, the lack of fund managers could become a bottleneck. CSRI raised 25 billion yen in its first mid-sized stock fund this year, Maeda said the organization plans to add three to four more people to its five-person team by April, but he added, There is a bit of concern about the gap between fund inflows and personnel inflows.