BDA advises J-Will Partners on divestment of Chichiyasu

Ito En Ltd has agreed to acquire Chichiyasu K.K. from K.K. J-Will Partners, a leading Japanese private equity firm. The transaction is expected to close by the end of May. BDA advised J-Will Partners on the divestment process and strategy with respect to international parties.

Chichiyasu is a dairy and yogurt manufacturer based in Hiroshima, Japan. The company was established in 1886 and in 1917 became the first Japanese company to produce and sell yogurt in the domestic market. Chichiyasu markets its yogurt and dairy products nationwide under its own widely recognized brand. The company is well known for its traditional yogurt products as well as its functional yogurt products which offer the benefits of added dietary fibre, iron, calcium and others.

Ito En will buy the stock in Chichiyasu from funds managed by J-Will Partners. It plans to sell Chichiyasu’s dairy products through its sales network, and expects the joint development of milk-based drinks will supplement its existing business. Ito En, renowned for its green tea Oi Ocha beverage, ranks third in the Japanese non-alcoholic beverage industry. It posted sales of JPY333 billion (US$4.1bn) in the year ended April 2010.

BDA Deal Team
Andrew Huntley, Senior Managing Director, London
Jeff Acton, Managing Director, Tokyo
Jeffrey Wang, Managing Director, Shanghai
Lydia Xu, Director, Shanghai
Alicia Cao, Analyst, Shanghai
Toshiaki Yokohara, Senior Associate, Tokyo
Li Xiang, Analyst, Shanghai

About Business Development Asia
Business Development Asia LLC (“BDA”) assists multinational corporate and financial sector clients to identify and execute acquisitions, divestments, JVs, restructuring and capital raising, in Asia and internationally. The company is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bahrain, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo. BDA employs 60 full-time professional staff across its eight offices, supplemented by a team of senior advisors around the world. BDA’s clients include Areva, AXA Private Equity, Celestica, Clariant, Dai Nippon Ink and Chemicals, Ecolab, Hercules, Kennametal, Molex, Nalco, Pfizer, Rexel, Reuters, Ryder, SigmaKalon, Sun Chemical, Tredegar, WestLB, the Weir Group and the British Government. Further information on BDA is available at www.bdapartners.com

For more information regarding this transaction, please contact please contact Charles Maynard in New York on (212) 265 5300 or Jeff Acton in Tokyo on (81) 3 3433 5803.