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We are pleased to announce that on October 15, 2024, Kenji Mitsui, former Bain & Company Senior Partner, joined Advantage Partners as Partner and Head of the Private Solutions strategy and as Representative Director of Advantage Advisors.

The Private Solutions strategy conducts minority investments in publicly listed Japanese companies with the aim of providing capital and supporting the planning and execution of initiatives aimed at spurring growth and enhancing corporate value. Discussions regarding future direction, as well as the support required to achieve such visions, are held with the management of target companies prior to investment. Further, share price appreciation and increases in corporate value are pursued by partnering with the company and supporting new business development and driving revenue and earnings increases across existing businesses.

Prior to joining Advantage Partners, Mr. Mitsui was a Senior Partner at Bain & Company Japan, where he led the Tokyo office’s healthcare and life-science practice and acted as the Japan head of its performance improvement practice. Before working at Bain, he was a Managing Partner at PwC Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company) in Tokyo from 2017 to 2020, where he founded and led the Japan PE Strategy and Value Creation Practices. He first started his career at Nomura Research Institute, Ltd., as an urban and regional planner in 1989. He holds a B.Eng., and M.Eng., from the University of Tokyo, and an MCP (Master in City Planning) from MIT. He is a member of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives.

Advantage Partners’ investments in publicly listed companies trace its origins to 2005, when an investment was made in Daiei, which was receiving support from the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan. At the time, aggregate foreign ownership of Japanese stocks was roughly 20%. However, as of the end of the 2023 fiscal year, this had increased to a record high of 31.8%. Combined with the increasing sophistication of corporate governance codes, this has led to higher expectations of growth in spite of significant changes in the macro-economic environment, including a shrinking population and domestic market, volatility in foreign exchange rates, the end of 0% interest rates, and the first instance of inflation in roughly 30 years. As a result, strategy development and execution in pursuit of long-term growth has become increasingly difficult for publicly listed Japanese companies.

Funds served by Advantage Partners in the Private Solutions strategy have made roughly 40 investments that have largely outperformed market indices. Mr. Mitsui’s strong background in consulting for large companies is expected to greatly bolster the Private Solutions team’s ability to make large-cap investments and execute on its key focus of supporting growth among portfolio companies.

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