Hitowa, a Japanese company invested in by MBK Partners, has entered the silver industry by acquiring a Japanese nursing facility operator. It is known that the National Pension Service is an investor in MBK Partners' Fund No. 5, which provided the funding for the acquisition of Hitowa.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 19th, the National Pension Service is investing in "MBK Partners No. 5-2 Private Investment Limited Partnership," a private fund exclusively for domestic institutional investors.
The MBK Partners No. 5-2 Private Investment Limited Partnership is a fund linked to MBK Partners' Fund No. 5, a blind fund (a fund that raises capital before determining investment targets) managed by MBK Partners, and it is being used for the acquisition of domestic and foreign companies by MBK Partners' Fund No. 5.
MBK Partners acquired Hitowa Holdings in January 2024 (as of the time of shareholder change), using funds received through capital calls (requests for contributions) from investors by MBK Partners' Fund No. 5 and affiliated funds during the acquisition process.
Investors in blind funds review the details of each investment case and contribute funds within the agreed scope. It was reported that funds from domestic institutional investors, including the National Pension Service, were used for the Hitowa acquisition during the capital call process.
However, a National Pension Service official stated, "We cannot confirm details regarding individual funds." The investment amount related to the Hitowa acquisition transaction specified in MBK Partners' 2023 annual letter is $336 million.
Hitowa started in 1997 as the house cleaning franchise "Osoji Honpo" and is a company that operates paid elderly homes such as "Irije," daycare centers, and meal delivery services.
Hitowa, acquired by MBK, signed a share purchase agreement on August 26 of this year to acquire 100% of the shares in BiHealth, a Japanese nursing facility operator, and completed the transaction this month. The acquisition amount has not been disclosed. BiHealth is a company established in 2023 that operates six paid elderly care facilities and daycare centers in Saitama and Kanagawa Prefectures in Japan.
MBK's acquisition of BiHealth took place amid the fact that the proportion of elderly people in Japan has reached an all-time high and acquisitions of Japanese companies by foreign capital have increased. According to Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as of September last year, the proportion of elderly people in Japan's total population was 29.6%, a record high. From January to September this year, the amount of Japanese company acquisitions by foreign companies and investors was 6.2 trillion yen, a 40% increase over one year.
As MBK Partners has not liquidated Fund No. 5, the profit or loss that the National Pension Service will realize is expected to be determined at the time of exit (capital recovery) through the sale of companies acquired by MBK Partners.
Meanwhile, following last year's Homeplus incident, the National Pension Service has suspended new investments in corporate acquisition-type private funds, in addition to capital calls for previously committed private funds.
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