Japan's Advantage Partners launches $1.8bn buyout fund

The fund established by Advantage Partners is one of the largest funds ever launched by a Japanese private equity firm. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Rie Ishii and Taizo Wada)

TOKYO -- Japanese corporate acquisition firm Advantage Partners has launched a 300 billion yen (approximately $1.8 billion) buyout fund, Nikkei has learned. Advantage aims to use the fund, one of the largest from a Japanese private equity firm, to drive the restructuring of Japanese industries by spinning off non-core businesses from domestic companies and taking midsize companies private.