PE firms hire Citigroup to sell Japanese drugmaker Showa Yakuhin Kako

Three private equity firms are planning to sell Japanese drugmaker Showa Yakuhin Kako Co in a deal that could be worth as much as 70 billion yen ($905 million), Reuters today reported, citing three people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Tokyo-based Showa Yakuhin Kako is 50.02 per cent owned by Tokio Marine Capital, 23 per cent by Japanese buyout firm Polaris Capital Group, 23 per cent by a private equity arm of PineBridge Investments and the remaining 3.98 per cent by others.

The PE firms had acquired Showa Yakuhin Kako in 2008 from JAFCO, a listed private equity and venture capital group, for a reported ¥40 billion ($400 million) including debt, through ¥22 billion financing from Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

Tokio Marine Capital, a Japanese private equity firm affiliated with Tokio Marine Holdings, has hired Citigroup to manage the sale, said the news agency.

Showa Yakuhin is a manufacturer of dental products and generic pharmaceuticals, focusing on three branded products, Calonal, a prescription paracetamol, pain relief medication, Ora, a dental anaesthetic and Periofeel, for periodontal treatment.

Its others products include the painkiller acetaminophen.