News
Acquisition of OWNDAYS in Partnership with L Catterton Asia
Nov. 8, 2018
Mitsui & Co., Principal Investments Ltd. ("MCPI", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Naoki Nakata), an investment business subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga), is partnering with L Catterton Asia (“LCA”), the Asian unit of the largest and most global consumer-focused private equity firm in the world, to jointly acquire a stake in OWNDAYS Inc. ("OWNDAYS" , Head Office: Okinawa, President and CEO: Shuji Tanaka) through a fund managed by MCPI. MCPI and LCA entered into an agreement with OWNDAYS and its shareholders to that effect.
OWNDAYS is a fast fashion brand which manufactures and markets eyeglasses and sunglasses under the OWNDAYS brand. Since 2008, when the current CEO Shuji Tanaka took over OWNDAYS, the company has provided fashion- and lifestyle-oriented eyewear products by introducing private brands through an “SPA model” (specialty-store retailer of private label apparel) and embracing fashion and trends in eyewear. With 115 stores in Japan and 142 stores overseas across 10 markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, OWNDAYS demonstrates strong potential to further grow retail operations, both in Japan and abroad.
The current management team headed by CEO Tanaka continues to hold a substantial stake and to manage OWNDAYS. Leveraging their global network, retail and consumer goods industry knowledge, and management-improvement capabilities, MCPI and LCA will provide extensive support to OWNDAYS, in order to accelerate its growth in Japan and overseas, and strengthen its management system. MCPI plans to dispatch a full-time manager to OWNDAYS in addition to non-executive directors, and provide hands-on support to increase OWNDAYS’ corporate value. With strong support from MCPI and LCA, OWNDAYS aims to gain market share in Asian markets and to rapidly increase its number of stores to 500.
About Mitsui & Co., Principal Investments Ltd.
MCPI was established in May 2003 as a private equity arm backed by Mitsui & Co. group, and follows Mitsui’s slogan "Challenge and Innovation" in its engagement in the investment business. MCPI aspires to (1) create corporate value by leveraging Mitsui’s networks, (2) achieve operational improvement by providing full-time, hands-on support, and (3) propose a flexible investment structure according to the specific needs and conditions of each company. MCPI makes private equity investments both in Japan and overseas, providing managerial support to increase corporate value.
About L Catterton
With over $15 billion of equity capital across six fund strategies in 17 offices globally, L Catterton is the largest and most global consumer-focused private equity firm in the world. L Catterton's team of more than 160 investment and operating professionals partners with management teams around the world to implement strategic plans to foster growth, leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad thought partnership network. Since 1989, the firm has made over 200 investments in leading consumer brands. L Catterton was formed through the partnership of Catterton, LVMH and Groupe Arnault. For more information about L Catterton, please visit lcatterton.com. This is the first investment into a Japanese company for L Catterton Asia.