KKR & Co. and Japan Investment Corp. are acquiring medical equipment maker Topcon Corp. through a tender offer valued at ¥348 billion ($2.3 billion), marking another significant private equity deal in Japan’s evolving corporate landscape.
KKR will invest about ¥256 billion for a majority stake, while the Japanese state-backed fund will contribute approximately ¥95 billion for a minority position, according to a statement Friday. The offer price of ¥3,300 per share represents a 5.4% premium to Topcon’s closing price and nearly double its 12-month average.
Topcon’s management cited pressure from activist investors as a key motivation for the deal. The company’s two largest shareholders are activist funds ValueAct Capital and Oasis Management, which hold stakes of 13.69% and 10.58% respectively.
“We want to pursue our long-term strategies for eye-care products and positioning businesses by going private,” said Yoshikuni Ito, Topcon’s managing executive officer, noting the difficulty of executing long-term plans while facing shareholder demands for short-term profits.
The transaction represents the first partnership between JIC and a global private equity firm. Topcon CEO Takashi Eto will sell his current 0.07% stake and reinvest in the buyout.
The deal follows several other take-private transactions in Japan, including KKR’s January acquisition of software developer Fuji Soft after a bidding war with Bain Capital.
