Preliminary programme

Registration and refreshments

Opening keynote: Japanese innovation and its role in the global economy

Nobuyuki Idei, Founder & CEO, Representative Director, QUANTUM LEAPS CORPORATION

Japan in a time of flux

The global financial crisis has taken its toll on everyone from trading companies to PE fund managers. In Japan’s case though, it might well turn out to be just the catalyst that the market has been waiting for. Meanwhile, the PE community will soon receive the ultimate accolade: The government’s launch of INCJ—the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan.

• How are PE funds harnessing Japan’s deepening economic malaise to build strategic relationships with institutions and promoters?
• How are PE fund managers and business leaders thinking about Japan’s role in the region and in the world, in light of its structural challenges at home?
• How have Carlyle, Bain and Marunouchi Capital managed to get away multi-million-dollar deals in the last quarter, and will other managers follow?
• Is the announcement of the death of buyouts in Japan premature, and what prospects are there for growth capital investments in the world’s second-largest economy?

Moderator
Philip Bilden, Managing Director, HARBOURVEST PARTNERS (ASIA) LIMITED

Panelists
Richard Folsom, Representative Partner, ADVANTAGE PARTNERS, LLP
Takaomi Tomioka, Managing Director, THE CARLYLE GROUP
Masa Yoshizawa, Representative Director & Partner, THE LONGREACH GROUP
Jun Tsusaka, Managing Director, TPG CAPITAL
Tatsuo Kawasaki, Partner, UNISON CAPITAL

Venture capital

The past year has seen a flurry of VC deals completed in Japan, many of them early-stage or even seed investments. While this trend was begun in 2008 by the regional Small and Medium Business Investment & Consultation companies, 2009 has seen a much greater degree of private-capital investment:

• Where has this spurt of creativity come from, and which sectors is it focused on?
• Is Japan developing its own “Silicon Valley” ethos outside the research arms of the big conglomerates?

Moderator
Hideya Sadanaga, Deputy General Manager, Credit & Alternative, Investment Department, NIPPON LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

Panelists
Soichi Kariyazono, Partner, GLOBIS CAPITAL PARTNERS
Yoshiyuki Shibusawa, Director, JAFCO CO., LTD.
Tomotaka Goji, Managing Partner, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO EDGE CAPITAL

Turnarounds, restructuring and other special situations

If European and other governments reviled LBO investors as “vultures”, surely they must celebrate turnaround-merchants as, if not saints, certainly the good-Samaritans of the investing community. As the credit crunch has bitten into companies’ ability to borrow, and management and financing inefficiencies have gradually eaten up their cash flow, a good number of otherwise-strong firms have begun to falter:

• What are the key differences between companies which can be saved, versus those which can’t, and how do turnaround professionals spot the difference?
• Where are regulations helping with early-intervention, and which countries impede the access of restructuring funds until it’s too lateDoes government-sponsored debt underwriting / forgiveness strengthen economies or simply sustain corporate zombies at a high cost to the taxpayer?
• What is the net effect on the wider economy?
• What are the most important tools in the “special situations” investor’s arsenal?

Moderator
Tom Whitson, Partner & Head of Transaction Services, KPMG FAS CO LTD

Panelist
Yasushi Ando, CEO & COO, NEW HORIZON CAPITAL
Masao Nakagawa, Sr. Director, NIPPON MIRAI CAPITAL CO., LTD.
Anthony Miller, CEO, PACIFIC ALLIANCE JAPAN LIMITED

Creating value: the Japanese art of Kaizen

Private equity started with smart fund managers finding companies with high potential but low performance, investing in them, and working with management to improve them, thereby delivering value and returns. Over the last several years, the widespread adoption of financial engineering, especially with respect to leveraged buyouts, has meant less focus on these basics , a fact some now point to as the reason behind recent portfolio woes. Many PE fund managers have pledged a return to PE’s roots, addressing LPs' concerns.

• Can the discipline of continuous improvement – kaizen - entrenched in Japanese companies, be successfully exported around the region?
• What strategies are successful GPs implementing with their portfolio companies?
• What progress are foreign firms making in bringing the best of global strategies to their Japanese portfolio companies?
• Which Japanese business models can be exported to the rest of Asia?

Moderator
Ashok Roy, Managing Director, DAIWA QUANTUM CAPITAL

Panelists
David Gross-Loh, Managing Director, Bain Capital
Megumi Kiyozuka, Managing Director, CLSA CAPITAL PARTNERS JAPAN KK

Small-to-Medium-sized Enterprises: Japan’s Mittelstand comes to the fore

Growth capital accounted for 10% of the deal value in 2009, and over 20% of total deal volume. The value of deals in 2009, at US$ 470m, was five times the 2008 total of US$ 90m.

• What has driven the explosion of growth capital deals in 2009?
• How does deal pricing in Japan compare with elsewhere in Asia?
• How are banks’ principal investment arms influencing private groups’ ability to source and close deals?
• What are the value drivers for investors in Japanese companies, and how are GPs unlocking this value?
• What organisational changes are GPs effecting within their portfolio companies, and how easy or otherwise is it to get management to accept their suggestions?

Moderator
Hiroko Oda, Manager, Investment Department, MITSUI SUMITOMO INSURANCE CO LTD

Panelists
Ryosuke Iinuma, Managing Partner, ANT CAPITAL PARTNERS
Tomoki Abe, Partner, NIPPON MIRAI CAPITAL
Ayumi Sakurai, Co-Representative Partner, VALIANT PARTNERS

Special address: Real estate opportunities in Japan and across Asia

A review of the opportunities in real-estate, both in Japan and around Asia. Both PE-style investments in developers, as well as annuity income from investing in R.E. management companies.

Speaker
Jon-Paul Toppino, President & CIO, SCJ INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Gala dinner

Dinner keynote address

Tetsutaro Muraki, President & CEO, TOKYO AIM, INC.

Registration and refreshments

Keynote address: INCJ investment strategy

Haruyasu Asakura, COO, INNOVATION NETWORK CORPORATION OF JAPAN

Asian opportunities: Hidden and not-so-hidden gems from around the region

For India and China, GDP growth has respectively approached and exceeded 8% for the quarter ended Dec ‘09. Other Asian economies benefit from these two leviathans’ huge appetite for goods and services, whilst at the same time servicing their growing domestic markets with everything from fast food to financial products.

Where are the most consistent returns to be had around developing Asia?

• What limits are there on FDI in each market, in aggregate, and by sector? Which sectors offer the best investment returns?
• What are the unique—as well as the shared—strengths of the emerging economic superpowers?
• Is Australia just a well-run homologue to Europe and the US—and what does that mean for access and returns?
• How quickly is domestic demand fuelling growth in companies serving China and India? How can foreign suppliers participate?

Moderator
Joe Zhou, Founder & Managing Partner, KEYTONE VENTURES

Panelists
Markus Ableitinger, Director, Head Asia Investment Management, CAPITAL DYNAMICS
Kosei Terami, Deputy Representative, IFC, TOKYO OFFICE
Akhil Awasthi,Managing Partner,TATA CAPITAL GROWTH FUND

Debt and Mezzanine for growth, buyouts, banks and investors in and outside Japan: different value propositions

Post-GFC, banks and credit markets are more risk averse and expensive while companies are growing again. PE firms have a lot of dry powder, reduced portfolio company valuations and seek leverage to boost equity returns. The panel will explore the different opportunities and value propositions for borrowers, lenders and for investors:

• Debt: What are the banks requiring of new borrowers?
• Mezzanine: What are the differences across the regions in terms of types, equity dilution, cash flows, risk/return profiles, and availabilities?
• How can portfolio companies adapt to the new requirements of risk capitalists?
• How can investors in and outside Japan benefit from the increased demands for risk capital?"

Moderator
Joseph W Ferrigno III, Managing Partner, ASIA MEZZANINE CAPITAL GROUP

Panelists
Shinichi Kato, Executive Vice President, Head of Leveraged Finance, CREDIT AGRICOLE CIB, TOKYO BRANCH
Chikara Okada, Representative Director, CITIGROUP VENTURE CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL (CVCI) JAPAN
Koji Sasayama, Managing Director, MEZZANINE CORPORATION

Attracting overseas LPs to Japanese private equity through taxation and IFRS reforms

The April 2009 partial repeal of 2005’s private equity tax law, coupled with new measures in the 2009 budget have significantly lowered the tax and compliance burden on foreign institutional investors investing in Japan. One year down the line, Japanese PE funds are still waiting to feel the benefit, as the perception still prevails among foreign investors that it is too difficult and complex to invest in Japanese private equity.

• What was METI aiming to achieve with the tax policy for offshore LPs implemented on April 1 2009? How will the new tax policy benefit the PE industry?
• How do overseas LP investments impact Japan’s PE funds, particularly mid-sized funds?
• Expectations for foreign LP investments into Japanese GPs, seen from local LPs’ point of view.
• How do the IFRS changes impact local GPs, and what are the reactions from onshore and offshore LPs?

Moderator
Kazunori Ozaki, Chairman & CEO, ANT CAPITAL PARTNERS CO LTD

Speakers
Sunie Oue, Partner, M&A TAX, Transaction Advisory Group, KPMG Tax Corporation
Tetsuya Hamabe, Director , Industrial Finance Division, MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, TRADE AND INDUSTRY (METI)
Soichi Sam Takata, Deputy Head of Private Equity, TOKIO MARINE ASSET MANAGEMENT

LP's appetite for Japan and the rest of Asia

Japan’s domestic LPs are looking to diversify their portfolios whilst enhancing returns, and many are beginning to look for opportunities beyond Japan’s shores. Meanwhile, international institutional investors remain interested in Japan’s highly developed economy, if not always fully engaged.

• What are the big attractions in Japan’s PE market? Do regional or country-specific funds offer the best vehicle, and what’s the right degree of internationalism in local teams?
• Where do LPs stand on the issues thrown up by ILPA’s white paper? Will the status quo persist, or are the winds of change blowing?
• How can LPs hedge their exposure to exchange-rate movements? And what can GPs do to help?
• How are Japanese funds performing relative to their cousins in the rest of Asia?

Moderator
Kazushige Kobayashi, President & CEO, ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT CAPITAL LTD

Panelists
Masahiko Ishida, General Manager, Fund Investment Group, DEVELOPMENT BANK OF JAPAN INC.
Motoya Kitamura, Associate Director & Sr. Vice President, MACQUARIE FUNDS GROUP
Togo Okonogi, Manager, Investment Department, NIPPONKOA INSURANCE CO., Ltd.
Michael Chae, Director, Alternative Investments – Japan,PineBridge Investments
Toru Masuda, Associate General Manager - Private Equity Investment, SUMITOMO TRUST & BANKING CO.