Blackstone Announces a Tender Offer for Infocom, Japan’s Leading Provider of Digital Comics, in the Largest Private Equity Transaction in Japan of the Year

Tokyo – Blackstone (NYSE:BX) announced today that private equity funds and vehicles managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”) have announced its intention to make a tender offer for the common shares of Infocom, a leading provider of digital comics. This marks the largest private equity transaction announced or closed in Japan this year as well as Blackstone’s largest investment in the market to date from Private Equity and the team’s third investment announced in the past six months, representing significant commitment to the market.

Infocom’s Mecha Comic is one of Japan’s top providers of online comics and the market leader for Japanese women 30 years old and above.
Atsuhiko Sakamoto, Head of Private Equity, Blackstone Japan, said: “We are thrilled to begin our partnership with Infocom, which has strong Information Technology operations and a leading digital entertainment platform. This is a continuation of our commitment to investing in high quality, growth-oriented businesses in Japan and building them into market leaders. We look forward to helping the company explore new avenues of growth, bringing our global scale, capabilities, and sector expertise.”

Jun Kuroda, President & Chief Executive Officer, Infocom, said: “Infocom’s robust e-comics business is the driving force behind our growth, and our IT services business for hospitals and general companies is also working to expand the services we provide and strengthen our customer base. We are confident that Blackstone’s investment track record, outstanding data analysis capabilities, and track record of alliance with a variety of companies will be a major source of strength for our group’s medium- to long-term growth.”

This is Blackstone’s largest transaction in Japan Private Equity and the team’s third announcement within the past six months, following a planned tender offer for I’rom Group and investment in Sony Payment Services.
Blackstone brings a depth of experience in the digital content and IT services sectors. It has made more than 10 investments in IT services and technology-enabled businesses in Asia Pacific including top digital service providers Mphasis and R Systems.

Blackstone expects to commence the tender offer on June 19, 2024. Please refer to the announcement issued today, titled “Notice Regarding Commencement of Tender Offer For Shares of Infocom (Code: 4348) by BXJC II Holding KK” for details regarding the terms and conditions of the tender offer, a copy of which is available on https://www.infocom.co.jp/ja/ir.html.

This press release has been prepared for the purpose of informing the public of the tender offer and has not been prepared for the purpose of soliciting an offer to sell, or making an offer to purchase, any securities. If shareholders wish to make an offer to sell their shares in the tender offer, they should first read the tender offer explanation statement for the tender offer and offer their shares for sale at their own discretion. This press release shall neither be, nor constitute a part of, an offer to sell or purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase, any securities, and neither this press release (or a part thereof) nor its distribution shall be interpreted to be the basis of any agreement in relation to the tender offer, and this press release may not be relied on at the time of entering into any such agreement.

The tender offer will be conducted in accordance with the procedures and information disclosure standards prescribed by the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of Japan, which may differ from the procedures and information disclosure standards in the United States. In particular, Section 13(e) and Section 14(d) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules prescribed thereunder do not apply to the tender offer, and the tender offer does not conform to those procedures and standards.

The financial advisors to Blackstone and Infocom, as well as the tender offer agent (including their respective affiliates) may engage in purchases of the shares of Infocom for their own account or for their customers’ accounts to the extent permitted under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of Japan, Rule 14e-5(b) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and other applicable laws and regulations, during the period prior to the commencement of the tender offer or during the tender offer. Such purchases may be conducted at a market price through a market transaction, or at a price determined through negotiations off-market. In the event that information regarding such purchases is disclosed in Japan, such information will also be disclosed on the English website of the financial advisor or the tender offer agent conducting such purchases, or will otherwise be made publicly available.

Unless otherwise specified, all procedures relating to the tender offer are to be conducted entirely in Japanese. If all or a part of the documentation relating to the tender offer is prepared in the English language and there is any inconsistency between the English-language documentation and the Japanese-language documentation, the Japanese-language documentation will prevail.

About Blackstone 

Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which we invest. Our more than $1 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram

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