A fund manager who profited by buying Japanese trading companies years before Warren Buffett invested in them is now targeting a very domestic sector: drugstore chains.
Unlike the U.S. where two drugstore groups largely dominate the sector, in Japan the six or seven biggest chains barely make up half the market, according to Tsukasa Tokikuni, head of Orbis Investment Management’s Japan unit.
Tokikuni said there’s opportunity to profit from consolidation in the sector, and private equity funds have shown interest in those firms including Tsuruha Holdings, which his company is invested in.