Exit of the Year – Large Cap
(Equity commitment on entry – USD 150m and above)

Kioxia Holdings (Bain Capital)

A consortium led by Bain Capital exited the bulk of its shares in Kioxia Holdings, a Japan-based flash memory supplier, through a string of sales amounting to JPY 5.3trn (USD 33.5bn) between November 2025 and June 2026. This is on top of JPY 18.4bn from Kioxia’s 2024 IPO. Bain alone is said to have received around USD 15bn. The sponsor assembled a group of global and domestic investors to support a carve-out of Toshiba’s memory unit at a JPY 2trn valuation in 2018. It then positioned the business to take advantage of AI-related upturn. Consortium members still hold about 14%.

Kokusai Electric (KKR)

KKR exited its remaining 10% in Kokusai Electric, a Japan-based supplier of deposition process equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing, through a JPY 151.6bn (USD 956m) share sale in May 2026. Across pre-IPO sales, IPO realisations, and post-listing trades, total proceeds from the investment are said to amount to USD 5.5bn. KKR’s return is 20x. It acquired Kokusai Electric from Hitachi for an enterprise valuation of JPY 322bn in 2017, split the business in two and took full control of the semiconductor arm. After a trade sale exit was abandoned in 2021, the company regrouped and listed two years later.

Luckin Coffee (Centurium Capital)

Centurium Capital made two partial exits from China-based coffeehouse chain Luckin Coffee over the course of seven months in 2026, returning USD 1.8bn to investors in its US dollar-denominated and renminbi funds. The first exit saw super voting shares transferred to Centurium’s management company; the second involved a share sale to a continuation vehicle backed by Mubadala Investment. Centurium took a minority stake in Luckin in 2017 and assumed majority control in 2022 following a fraud scandal at the then NASDAQ-listed company. It oversaw a financial turnaround and aggressive expansion. Luckin is now profitable and comfortably China’s largest coffeehouse chain.

Rigaku (Carlyle)

Carlyle sold its remaining 47% stake in Rigaku Holdings Corporation, a Japan-based supplier of X-ray technology instruments primarily used in semiconductor manufacturing, for JPY 204bn (USD 1.29bn) via two share sales in June and August 2026. The two-step exit – a global offering and a block trade to Onto Innovation – was devised to minimize the volatility of a public market monetisation. Carlyle acquired a majority stake in Rigaku in 2021 for a reported JPY 100bn and proceeded to drive business expansion. It realised JPY 112.3bn when Rigaku listed in October 2024. At final exit, the company’s market capitalisation was JPY 418bn.

SP.Links (Blackstone)

Blackstone exited SP.Links, a Japan-based payments business, to SoftBank Group’s payments unit in September 2026 for a reported enterprise valuation around JPY 100bn (USD 632m). The sponsor carved out SP.Links – formerly known as Sony Payment Services – from Sony Bank in 2024 at a reported JPY 50bn valuation. It took 80% with Sony Bank retaining 20%. Both fully exited to SoftBank. In addition to installing new management within a year of ownership, Blackstone optimised the balance sheet through better cash flow forecasting, invested in in-house technology capabilities to digitalise back-end processes, and shifted the sales model from relationship-management-led to proactive origination.