Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest bank by market value, and trading house Mitsubishi Corp. said Thursday they will set up a ¥100 billion buyout fund as the nation's private equity market withstands a global slowdown in deals.
"Together with Mitsubishi Corp., our brokerage and banking units, and management fund, we will establish a ¥100 billion fund," said Tomohiro Kato, a spokesman for Tokyo-based Mitsubishi UFJ. The fund will target domestic companies, he said.
Japan's private equity market is off to the best start to a year since at least 2000, with $5 billion in deals announced since Dec. 31. Mitsubishi UFJ posted a 68 percent drop in third-quarter profit and is struggling to revive loan growth as Japan's economy battles deflation.