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Nomura and SPARX Group Announce Strategic Alliance to Establish Listed Investment Corporation
January 14, 2021
Nomura Holdings, Inc.
SPARX Group Co., Ltd.
Tokyo, January 14, 2021 - Nomura Holdings, Inc. ("Nomura") and SPARX Group Co., Ltd. ("SPARX") today announced that they have agreed to a strategic alliance to establish a listed investment corporation that will invest in unlisted companies. The two companies also plan to establish an asset management firm tentatively named Nomura SPARX Investment, Inc. ("Nomura SPARX").
In recent years, there has been growing demand in Japan for risk money through the private markets, and the financing needs of unlisted companies with growth potential are expected to remain robust. However, individual investors in Japan have limited investment opportunities that allow them to provide their assets as risk money to support unlisted company growth.
The alliance brings together Nomura's deep expertise in supporting the growth of unlisted companies, including through IPOs, and SPARX's solid track record in the asset management business, including its venture capital business that invests in unlisted company stock. Leveraging these strengths, Nomura and SPARX plan to create a new platform that will allow assets owned by investors to be offered as growth capital for unlisted companies.
Following an initial period of privately placed investments, the planned investment corporation will be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Venture Funds Market with the aim to invest assets from a wide range of investors in unlisted company stock.
To help unlisted portfolio companies grow, the two companies will provide them with support related to IPOs and IR activities in addition to offering financing and M&A advice.
Nomura and SPARX are committed to supporting economic growth in Japan by helping optimize fund flows in order to strengthen the competitiveness of local industry.
Overview of Nomura SPARX
| Name | Nomura SPARX Investment, Inc. (tentative) |
| Business | Investment management |
| Capital | 400 million yen (including capital reserves) |
| Shareholding ratio | Nomura Holdings 51%, SPARX Group 49% |
About Nomura
Nomura is a global financial services group with an integrated network spanning over 30 countries. By connecting markets East & West, Nomura services the needs of individuals, institutions, corporates and governments through its four business divisions: Retail, Asset Management, Wholesale (Global Markets and Investment Banking), and Merchant Banking. Founded in 1925, the firm is built on a tradition of disciplined entrepreneurship, serving clients with creative solutions and considered thought leadership. For further information about Nomura, visit www.nomura.com.
About SPARX Group
SPARX is an independent asset management firm that was founded in 1989. It practices a consistent investment philosophy and regular asset management processes in the development of its four core businesses: One Asia (Asian equities), real assets, Mirai Creation, and Japanese equities. It excels due to its bottom-up approach to research through which it engages with individual companies. Listing on the JASDAQ market in 2001, SPARX became the first independent Japanese asset management firm to list on the TSE First Section in 2019. For further information about SPARX, visit http://www.sparxgroup.com/.
