Not Schroder Ventures: It can pick and choose among deals.
That’s because Schroder feeds further up the financial food chain -- on buyouts. Schroder’s ¥17 billion ($127 million) private vehicle fund, Japan Venture Fund III, has plunked down ¥9 billion on buyouts, making it the leader in done deals.
Although new to Japan, buyouts have a lot driving them: Companies want to shed noncore divisions to better compete in a tough climate, and manufacturers that lost a bundle on real estate make good prospects, provided the properties can be shed. Schroder’s six deals consist mainly of low-tech service companies that were in distress or owned by distressed parents.
“Japan today is like it was after World War II,” says the general partner of Schroder Ventures, Nobuo Matsuki, 53. “An entire older generation of managers is being swept away, so there’s scope for a crop of entrepreneurs to appear.” With a little help.
