Bain Capital to Acquire Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation

Independent company plans significant investment in innovation, both internal product development and external licensing and acquisitions, supported by Bain Capital investment

TOKYO & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (“Tanabe Pharma”, “MTPC” or “the Company”) in a carve-out transaction from Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation. The investment is being led by Bain Capital’s Private Equity teams in Asia and North America together with the firm’s Life Sciences team and values the business at approximately 510 billion JPY (3.3 billion USD).

Founded in 1678, Tanabe Pharma is headquartered in Doshomachi, Osaka, the birthplace of Japan’s pharmaceutical industry. 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 over 5,000 people globally.

As an independent company, Tanabe Pharma will continue to build 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.

“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,” said Masa Suekane, a Partner and Head of Japan Healthcare, Industrials and Financial Services at Bain Capital Private Equity. “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.”

“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,” said Ricky Sun, a Partner at Bain Capital Life Sciences. “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.”

Bain Capital’s global Healthcare platform has deep experience supporting the growth and innovation of global 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 more than 70 investment professionals who have made over 37 investments since establishing its Tokyo office in 2006.

The transaction 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.

About Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC), the pharma arm of Mitsubishi Chemical Group (MCG), is one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in the world, founded in 1678, and focusing on ethical pharmaceuticals. MTPC is headquartered in Doshomachi, Osaka, the birthplace of Japan’s pharmaceutical industry. MTPC sets the MISSION of “Creating hope for all facing illness”. To that end, MTPC is working on the disease areas of central nervous system, immuno-inflammation, diabetes and kidney, and cancer. MTPC is focusing on “precision medicine” to provide drugs with high treatment satisfaction by identifying patient populations with high potential for efficacy and safety. In addition, MTPC is working to develop “around the pill solutions” to address specific patient concerns based on therapeutic medicine, including prevention of diseases, pre-symptomatic disease care, prevention of aggravation and prognosis. For more information, go to https://www.mt-pharma.co.jp/e/.

About Bain Capital

Founded in 1984, Bain Capital is one of the world’s leading private investment firms. We are committed to creating lasting impact for our investors, teams, businesses, and the communities in which we live. As a private partnership, we lead with conviction and a culture of collaboration, advantages that enable us to innovate investment approaches, unlock opportunities, and create exceptional outcomes. Our global platform invests across five focus areas: Private Equity, Growth & Venture, Capital Solutions, Credit & Capital Markets, and Real Assets. In these focus areas, we bring deep sector expertise and wide-ranging capabilities. We have 24 offices on four continents, more than 1,850 employees, and approximately $185 billion in assets under management. To learn more, visit www.baincapital.com. Follow @BainCapital on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).