Bahrain's Investcorp enters Japan in global expansion push

Company aims to increase investor base in Asian country and is seeking private equity and real estate deals

Mohammed Alardhi, executive chairman of Investcorp, on Monday said the company surpassed the $50 billion in assets under management mark in December. Bloomberg

Bahrain’s Investcorp, the alternative asset manager that counts Mubadala Investment Company as its biggest shareholder, has entered the Japanese market as it seeks to source deals in Asia’s second-largest economy.

The new office in the Japanese capital Tokyo is part of Investcorp’s global expansion drive as it looks to boost its investment portfolio and increase its assets under management, the company said on Monday.

“Following our historic achievement of surpassing $50 billion in assets under management in December 2022, the opening of an Investcorp office in Japan is the next major milestone along our road of global growth,” Mohammed Alardhi, executive chairman of Investcorp, said.

“We are looking forward to further expanding our base of Japanese investors and bringing new investment capital into the region … from the GCC.”

Heizo Takenaka has been appointed chairman of Investcorp Japan, which will seek direct private equity and real estate investment opportunities in the country.

Mr Takenaka served as Japan’s minister of economic and fiscal policy in 2001 and later became the country’s internal affairs and communications minister in 2005. He is currently a professor at Tokyo University and has been a part of Investcorp’s international advisory board since July 2020.

The office in Tokyo is Investcorp’s 14th globally and its fifth in Asia, after Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore and Beijing.

With the expansion, Investcorp’s wider Asia team has risen to 40.

“Our Asian footprint today is more prominent than ever,” Hazem Ben-Gacem, co-chief executive of Investcorp, said.

Japanese investors are seeking access to global alternative investment strategies that Investcorp is well positioned to provide, given the company’s extensive experience in Asia, he said.

“We are proud to build on our existing relations with Japanese investors who currently allocate more than $2 billion of AUM to our investment products,” Mr Ben-Gacem added.

Established more than 40 years ago, Investcorp has grown to become one of the leading alternative asset management companies in the region.

The company went on an acquisition spree during the Covid-19 pandemic to capitalise on lower asset valuations and continued its aggressive portfolio expansion in 2022.

Investcorp has carried its deal-making momentum into 2023 and in January said it plans to invest up to $1 billion in the GCC real estate market over the next five years.

Last month, the company announced its first Gulf real estate investment in a 215,000 square foot temperature-controlled warehouse in Dammam. It is the first of the $100 million in real estate investments that Investcorp is assessing in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, the company said at the time.

In February, Investcorp agreed to make a “significant” investment in Finland-based technology company Eficode to become its majority shareholder.

As part of the deal, Investcorp is teaming up with Eficode’s founder Risto Virkkala and its chief executive Ilari Nurmi to support the company’s next phase of growth and international expansion.