PE firm Permira to buy Japan's largest sushi restaurant chain Akindo Sushiro for $1 bn

European private equity firm Permira yesterday said that it would buy Akindo Sushiro Co Ltd, Japan's largest sushi restaurant chain, for $1 billion including debt, in what be the second largest acquisition in Japan by a PE firm in 12 months.

The proposed deal comes after Boston-based Bain Capital acquired a 50-per cent stake in Japan's biggest TV shopping channel Jupiter Shop Channel Co from Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp for over $1 billion in June this year. (See: Bain Capital said to pay over $1 bn for half of Japan's biggest TV shopping channel)

Permira is buying Osaka-based Sushiro from Japanese buyout fund Unison Capital, as well as the founding family. Unison Capital holds an 80 per cent stake in Sushiro, while the founding family holds the remaining.

Unison Capital had in June looked at selling Sushiro and appointed Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley to advice on the sale. The PE firm expected the sale to fetch around ¥70 billion ($882 billion).

Founded in 1984, Sushiro is the largest revolving sushi restaurant chain operator in Japan. It employs over 1,000 full time and 10,000 part time staff and operates 335 revolving sushi restaurants throughout Japan and three in South Korea.

Sushiro reached the top position amongst revolving sushi chains in terms of sales, achieving approximately JPY100 billion for the year ending September 2011. It was also ranked top in a customer satisfaction survey in the restaurant segment in 2011.