Directors
Chairman
Ryosuke Iinuma
Representative Director, Ant Capital Partners Co., Ltd.
Ryosuke Iinuma is the Executive Officer and Managing Partner for the Buyout Investment team as well as the Representative Director & President of Ant Capital Partners. He joined Ant Capital in August 2001, and has played a key role in the organization’s development to date, including the acquisition of Wit Capital Japan. In the Catalyzer series of funds, He leads the team of 15 investment professionals in their investment and hands-on support activities, with a focus on corporate management and business strategy. He has also served as the Director for portfolio companies; CAA，Checker Motors, Golf Partner, Miyano Machinery Inc (now CITIZEN MACHINERY), Willplus Holdings, Vario Secure Networks (now Vario Secure), Casa, MoonStar, Apple World, Allos One, Newokubo ,Amicus, Softbrain, Rasin, Beeline and as the Auditor for Fujisey and MEC. He started his career in 1994 in the Technology Division of Mitsubishi Corp., where he was in charge of market and business development for foreign software vendors and distributors in Japan. He graduated from Keio University, Faculty of Business and Commerce.
Vice Chairman
Yuichi Hiromoto
President & CEO, Japan Industrial Solutions Co.,Ltd.
Mr. Yuichi Hiromoto has been CEO of JIS Fund II since 2016, and he had also joined in JIS as a part time director overseeing the JIS Fund I since 2010. He has more than 25 years of widely-ranged investment experiences at Mitsubishi Corporation as EVP, Group COO at Industrial Finance, Logistics & Development Group, SVP, Division COO at Industrial Finance Division, as well as founder & CEO at Mitsubishi Corp.-UBS Realty, one of the largest J-REIT asset managers in Japan. During that time, he was a director of the Investment Trusts Association as well as chairperson of the Association for Real Estate Securitization’s international committee. He earned a bachelor degree of law from the University of Tokyo, and an MBA degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Vice Chairman
Ohna Kaneda
Presid & CEO,Basic Capital Management,Limited
USCP A
Since joining BCM in 2006, Mr. Kaneda has taken leadership in investment and management support in multiple types of deals such as business succession, curve-out, turnaround and growth investments in venture companies, which bear a variety of management issues. Mr. Kaneda has accumulated management experiences in a number of industries, such as manufacturing (automobile parts, food and household goods), retailing, restaurant, professional service (intellectual properties, interpreting and translation), agriculture and franchise business. Prior to joining BCM, Mr. Kaneda was in charge of M&A consulting at Strategic Finance Division, Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting (currently ABeam Consulting).
Mr. Kaneda graduated from Tokyo Institute of Technology (B.S.).
Director
Yuki Kashiyama
Partner,J-STAR Co., Ltd.
Joined J-STAR in February 2014. He made investments in and supports the management of 12 companies (21 companies with additional acquisitions), including Score Japan Holdings (Air cargo transportation), Yachiyo Care Support (rental of welfare equipment), aki-japan corporation (dispatch of architectural engineers), GENEX (wholesale of generic drugs), Shirayuki (planning, manufacturing, and sale of household goods), MWT Holdings (audio equipment manufacturing), Nakai Industrial Group (vapor deposition and coating), Sunsmile (planning and sale of make-up and beauty articles), Kugami (automotive part manufacturing), Primagest (image solutions), Tokai Trim (automotive seat manufacturing). Through his experience in venture businesses overseas, management of SMEs, and consulting for large corporations, he collaborates with the management teams of portfolio companies to solve their management issues in various stages and cycles.
He received “the Consultant of the Year award” from BCG Japan.
Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Tokyo.
Director
Megumi Kiyozuka
President & Representative Director
Sunrise Capital KK
Megumi Kiyozuka currently serves as President & Representative Director of Sunrise Capital KK. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall investment activities of the firm and serves on the board of numerous portfolio companies. Prior to joining the firm in 2006, Mr. Kiyozuka was a Director focusing on Japanese buyout opportunities in the consumer, healthcare, and industrial sectors with The Carlyle Group in Tokyo. He spent 6 years at Carlyle and was one of the founding members of Carlyle Japan. Prior to his tenure at The Carlyle Group, he was a Senior Manager at MUFG Bank, Ltd., where he accumulated over 10 years of experience in M&A and syndicated loans across various countries in Asia. Mr. Kiyozuka received a B.A. in Economics from Shiga University and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley.
Director
Yukinori Sugiyama
Partner Co-Head, Japan,CVC Asia Pacific (Japan)
P&G and GE for about 11 years, Sugiyama moved into the private equity industry in 2006, leading investments at Advantage Partners and CVC Asia Pacific Japan (CVC). He has been a partner and Co-Head of Japan at CVC since 2020
He has been leading a variety of investments and value-added activities in consumer and B2B/B2C services, with a particular focus on owner / family succession.
Born in Osaka, graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1994 with a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and received his M.S. from the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo in 1996.
Director
Hirofumi Hirano
Partner, Co-Head of Private Equity for KKR Asia Pacific, and Chief Executive Officer of KKR Japan
Hirofumi Hirano (Tokyo) joined KKR in 2013 and is a Partner, Co-Head of Private Equity for KKR Asia Pacific, and CEO of KKR Japan. He serves on the KKR Asia Private Equity Investment Committee and the KKR Asia Portfolio Management Committee. At KKR, he has been involved with investments including PHC Holdings (former Panasonic Healthcare), AlphaTheta (former Pioneer DJ), Magneti Marelli CK Holdings (former Calsonic Kansei), Koki Holdings (former Hitachi Koki) and Kokusai Electric (former Hitachi Kokusai Electric). Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Hirano worked at AlixPartners as the Japan representative and head of financial services in Asia. From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Hirano led the principal investment arm of Nikko Cordial Group (now known as SMBC Nikko Securities) and became Chairman of Nikko Principal Investments. Mr. Hirano played a significant role in investments including Tower Records Japan, Nikko Asset Management, Bell System 24, Seibu Railways and Styling Life Holdings (Sony’s retail business group) where he served as board member for these companies. Mr. Hirano graduated from Keio University and holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Director
Shohei Fukusaki
CIO ＆ Managing Director, Marunouchi Capital Co., Ltd.
Mr. Shohei Fukusaki started his career at Industrial Bank of Japan, Limited and engaged in loan and accounting operations.
Starting in 2004, he worked on carve outs associated with the review of business strategies by large capenterprises, as well as privatization deals, at Japan Industrial Partners, Inc.
From 2007, he engaged in multiple investment deals as Vice President of the Strategic Investment Group of Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.
In January 2009, Shohei joined Marunouchi Capital and became an investment committee member in 2019 and has been involved in important decisions for all investment deals.
He was appointed as CIO in December 2022.
He graduated from Hitotsubashi University with a B.A. in Commerce and Management.
Director
Maki Mitsui
Managing Director & Partner,Carlyle Japan Equity Management LLC
Maki Mitsui is a Managing Director – Partner responsible for investor relations as a Japan Representative of Carlyle Japan Equity Management LLC. The entity distributes a broad range of products to investors in Japan, including private equity, infrastructure, real estate, private credit, and aviation finance.
She has been involved in private asset business for over 25 years. Prior to joining Carlyle in 2002, Ms. Mitsui was at Merrill Lynch in Tokyo where she established a placement agent business within Investment Banking Division and introduced leading alternative asset managers to Japanese institutional investors. Before that, she was with International Equity Division at CS First Boston and worked in Tokyo and New York.
Ms. Mitsui received a BA in political science from Keio University.
Director
Tomohiko Mimura
Chief Executive Officer, Endeavour United Co.,Ltd.
Tomohiko Mimura established Phoenix Capital as co-founder in 2002 and has led many special-situations deals as a Senior Managing Director in charge of investments. He served as CEO from 2008 to 2013. He established Endeavour United in 2013 to focus on buyout investments. Prior to his career in private equity, he was with the investment banking team of MUFG Bank. He received BA in Engineering from the University of Tokyo.
Auditors
Supervisory Auditor
Toshiko Oka
CEO,Oka&company
In 1986, Toshiko Oka joined Tohmatsu & Touche Ross Consulting K.K. (the predecessor of ABeam Consulting Ltd. and Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting).
After transfers within the group, she has been providing consulting services for M&A strategy and management strategy formulation, M&A deal support, and post-M&A (PMI) consulting services at Oka & Company, Inc.
She is a full-time professor of MBA (Graduate School of Global Business) at Meiji University. She is an outside director of Sony Group Corporation, Happinet Corporation, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Ltd. and ENEOS Holdings, Inc.
She is the author of “Introduction to Cost of Capital” and “Decision Making on the Sale of Subsidiaries” (both published by Chuokeizai-sha, Inc.).
She holds a B.A. from Hitotsubashi University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Naoto Umezu
Founding Partner , D Capital, Inc.
Naoto Umezu is a fouding partner of D Capital.
Formerly he served as a director of Unison Capital, a pioneer of Japanese Private Equity.
He has extensive investment experience in healthcare, consumer and other sectors. He also previously worked at Citigroup, with a focus on M&A and financing transaction.
Naoto holds a B.A. in Law from Keio University.