Bain Capital announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma in a carve-out transaction from Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation. Bain Capital’s Private Equity teams are leading the investment in Asia and North America along with the firm’s Life Sciences team and values the business at about billion JPY ($3.3 billion).
Founded in 1678, Tanabe Pharma is based in Doshomachi, Osaka, the birthplace of Japan’s pharmaceutical industry. And through the discovery and development of innovative drugs that address unmet medical needs, MTPC focuses on several priority therapeutic areas, including immunology & inflammation, vaccines, central nervous system (CNS), diabetes and metabolic disease. MTPC employs 5,000+ people globally.
As an independent company, Tanabe Pharma will continue building on its legacy of medical innovation while developing new opportunities for growth through business development, licensing activities, enhanced R&D productivity, commercialization, and strategic acquisitions.
Bain Capital’s global Healthcare platform has experience supporting the growth and innovation of international pharmaceutical companies, including Aiolos Bio (now part of GSK), Avistone Pharmaceuticals, Cardurion Pharmaceuticals, Cerevel Therapeutics (now part of AbbVie), Kailera Therapeutics, Stada, Tenacia Biotechnology, and Timberlyne Therapeutics.
The firm is also a leading investor and partner to businesses across Japan, with over 70 investment professionals who have made over 37 investments since establishing its Tokyo office in 2006.
This deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 and is subject to customary closing conditions, regulatory clearance and shareholder approvals.
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities and BofA Securities are serving as financial advisors, and Morrison Foerster, Mori, Hamada & Matsumoto and Ropes & Gray are serving as legal advisors to Bain Capital.
KEY QUOTES:
“Tanabe Pharma has been delivering innovative medicines to Japanese patients for centuries, and we are proud to partner with MTPC and support its next phase of growth and evolution. As a standalone, independent company, the Company will benefit from the full support of Bain Capital’s global resources and our healthcare team’s extensive experience driving value creation across the healthcare value chain. We look forward to a collaborative partnership with MTPC and helping build a best-in-class Japanese pharma platform.”
- Masa Suekane, a Partner and Head of Japan Healthcare, Industrials and Financial Services at Bain Capital Private Equity
“We believe there are promising signs for growth and untapped opportunities in Japan’s life sciences industry as government and regulators have launched several initiatives to accelerate the development and approval of innovative medicines in the Japanese market. This is an exciting opportunity to leverage our team’s clinical insights and company creation support to build out a scale platform focused on long-term fundamental drug development in areas of significant unmet need to ultimately bring transformative medicines to patients in Japan and globally.”
• ⁃ Ricky Sun, a Partner at Bain Capital Life Sciences
