ABN AMRO pursues private equity pie in Japan

ABN AMRO has expanded its global private equity business with the establishment of a private equity team in Japan. The team consists of three former JP Morgan Chase senior executives; Karl Fooks, Andrew Liu and Terutomo Mitsumasu.

Fooks, who will lead the team, has experience in several private equity investments in Japan, including investments in: Tokyo Metallic, a DSL service provider; Monex securities, an online broker; Sony Online Bank and an investment club with Intec to pursue IT investments. 

ABN AMRO plans to invest around US$300 million over the next few years via this new team. Each investment will range between US$10 million to US$30 million, though larger amounts can be committed for buyouts and large fund raisings.

"We are seeking to leverage ABN AMRO's extensive private equity experience in Europe, which includes both venture and management buyout investing in our activities in Japan," observes Fooks. "The European experience with private equity may yield interesting parallels with Japan's developing private equity market."

The Japan team will join existing teams in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney.