Permira Advisers, one of Europe's biggest private-equity firms, is stepping up its investments in Japan, encouraged by government moves to give greater power to shareholders.

Permira, with €25 billion ($27.7 billion) under management, wants to invest in companies in the information technology, recruitment and fitness sectors that are planning to expand their operations, according to Ryo Fujii, the recently appointed managing director and Permira's Japan country head.

Fujii pointed to government moves to give more power to company shareholders — such as a so-called stewardship code introduced last year and a corporate governance code in June — and the change in corporate attitudes toward private-equity investors over the past decade.