Permira Advisers LLP, Europe's biggest buyout firm, said Monday it will purchase Arysta LifeScience Corp., the world's largest closely held farm chemicals maker, for about ¥250 billion in its first buyout in Japan.
London-based Permira beat out other private-equity firms, including Bain Capital LLC and Advantage Partners LLP, Japan's biggest buyout fund, according to sources familiar with the deal. An investor group led by Hong Kong-based Olympus Capital Holdings Asia will sell its holding in Tokyo-based Arysta, Permira said in a statement.
The acquisition comes amid a global credit shortage brought on by losses on securities tied to U.S. subprime home loans. It may herald more takeovers in Japan as large cash balances and low valuations draw overseas buyers. Takeovers of Japanese companies by overseas firms tripled this year to $28.2 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
"Japan's LBO market is still in a nascent stage," said Yoshihisa Okamoto, who helps manage $26 billion at Mizuho Asset Management Co. "The long-term trend in Japan is that we will see more of these leveraged buyout deals in the future."