Bain Capital Private Equity and ASATSU-DK announce successful tender offer

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ADKlogo.jpgBain Capital has successfully acquired an 87.05% stake in Japan’s third largest agency network ASATSU-DK (ADK, 9747:TSE) through a tender offer.

As announced on October 2, 2017, Bain Capital launched the tender offer to acquire the common shares of ADK with a view to privatizing the business and delisting it from the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).  

Bain Capital Private Equity and ADK will actively invest in core areas of future business expansion, including digital, data and the content business, which will enable the company to adapt to the evolving advertising market both in Japan and overseas. In order to provide its clients with leading solutions, ADK will adopt an open network model that will allow it to affiliate with the most appropriate partners in each business area.  

Yuji Sugimoto, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Private Equity, said: “Today’s successful tender offer marks an important step in the right direction for ADK as we move closer to privatizing the business in order to better secure its future in a fast-changing market. This is also a very positive outcome for ADK’s shareholders, who have been able to realize attractive value through our fully priced offer. We look forward to working closely with ADK’s management over the coming months to accelerate its transformation efforts while we continue to work towards the end goal of privatizing the business so it can realize its full potential more quickly.”   

Shinichi Ueno, President and Group CEO at ASATSU-DK, said: “To continue delivering leading data driven marketing solutions for our clients and to truly become a consumer activation company, we have long believed that ADK needed the financial and strategic flexibility that can only be achieved through becoming a private business. Today’s successful tender offer close is an important milestone in ADK’s growth story and we are confident that Bain Capital is the right partner to take us through this next phase of transformation. We are grateful for the support of our shareholders over the years, and now look forward to starting work on transforming the business alongside Bain Capital.”  

At the expiration of the tender offer period on December 6, 2017, a total of 36,233,119 ADK shares were tendered, corresponding to 87.05% of the total shares outstanding, surpassing the 20,785,200 (50.1%) minimum required. Under the terms of the tender offer, ADK shareholders who have tendered their shares will receive 3,660 JPY per share on or after December 13, 2017, which is when settlement is expected to occur.  

Bain Capital Private Equity has a large presence in Japan with deep market knowledge and extensive local networks, and has supported the domestic and global expansion of businesses that offer services to corporate clients, including Macromill and BELLSYSTEM24. The firm’s expertise in driving operational improvement strategies have made Bain Capital Private Equity a valued partner for Japanese companies.