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The development of the buyout industry: U.S.-Japan comparisons

Initially developed in the United States, the buyout industry is finally emerging in Japan. The earliest U.S. firms to enter the field began operations more than a quarter century ago, and some of these firms pioneered techniques now standard in the industry. Yet virtually no buyout activity took place in Japan until the late 1990s, and Japan's distinctive economic and social arrangements clearly are shaping the way the buyout industry is developing in Japan as compared to the United States and other Western countries. The emergence of the Japanese buyout industry naturally raises a number of important questions. When and why, for example, did buyout activity finally get started in Japan? How does the operation of the buyout industry in Japan compare with that of the United States and other Western countries? What are the key determinants of the future course of the Japanese buyout industry, and what roles will buyout firms based in Japan and abroad play in its development? To explore these and related issues, the Program on Alternative Investments of the Center on Japanese Economy and Business at Columbia Business School organized a seminar with two leading buyout practitioners, one American and the other Japanese, to share their views with an audience drawn from the academic and business communities. The first speaker was Mr. Joseph L. Rice III, Chairman of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Inc., a leading New York-based buyout firm, and was followed by Mr. Tsutomu Yoshida, Senior Vice President of Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc., a large Japanese trading firm that also has participated in the buyout field. This report presents highlights of the seminar, held on April 7, 2005, at Columbia University in New York, and moderated by Dr. Mark Mason, Director of the Program on Alternative Investments.

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Academic Units
Center on Japanese Economy and Business
Publisher
Program on Alternative Investments, Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business School
Published Here
June 15, 2011