Warburg Pincus CEO: There are "real and highly attractive opportunities" in Japan, and we will seize spin-off and privatization opportunities.

Warburg Pincus LLC CEO Jeffrey Perlman said Japan is undergoing structural changes that are making it more friendly and attractive to global private equity firms. "Japan today no longer sees private equity as a one-time adversary, but as a partner," Perlman said in an interview on Monday. "That's exactly where our value-creation investment strategy can play a role, helping companies achieve growth." "In our view, this is a real and highly attractive opportunity," he added. Perlman said that while the large-deal space may appear crowded, Warburg Pincus is targeting the less competitive middle market. Earlier this year, the firm launched a 190 billion yen ($1.2 billion) tender offer for Japanese student housing operator JSB Co., which will be its first privatization deal in Japan. Japan has thousands of listed companies many of them conglomerates with non-core business units that are suitable for streamlining or spin-offs providing private equity investors with abundant M&A targets. "Especially in the middle market, valuations remain attractive," he said. "We are also focused on investment opportunities arising from asset spin-offs and divestitures." In addition, Perlman said the investment value of domestic Indian companies remains outstanding, and Warburg Pincus will continue to increase its capital deployment there.