Investment Committee

Yuji Kimura

Chairman

Yuji Kimura

Mr. Kimura founded Polaris in 2004 and was appointed CEO. Currently, he is in charge of overall management as the President and CEO, and is in the forefront of investment, monitoring, and IR operations as the Chairman of the Investment Committee. Prior to Polaris, he was general manager of the Private Equity Department of Mizuho Securities, where he managed and successfully generated high performance on a number of private equity investments. Before Mizuho Securities, Mr. Kimura worked 16 years in corporate banking and investment banking at The Industrial Bank of Japan, Ltd. (IBJ). Mr. Kimura received a BA in International Relations from the University of Tokyo, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has been appointed Visiting Professor since April 2020 at the Graduate School of Kyoto University where he had been assuming the position of Adjunct Professor since April 2019. He also has acted as Chairman of Japan Private Equity Association since September 2019.

He concurrently holds the following positions:
Director, BAKE, Inc.
Director, LB Co., Ltd.
Director, O-net, Inc.
Director, i-PRO Co., Ltd.
Director, GeoTechnologies Inc.
Director, Lincstech Co., Ltd.
Director, SPACE VALUE HOLDINGS K.K.
Director, Eclasia HD Co.,Ltd.
Director, Sendenkaigi Co., Ltd.
Director, MASSMEDIAN Co., Ltd.

Hideo Mitsuda

Managing Partner & Executive Deputy President

Hideo Mitsuda

Mr. Mitsuda joined Polaris in August 2006. Prior to Polaris, he worked at Mizuho Financial Group for 12 years, first as a research analyst of the Industrial Research Department of The Industrial Bank of Japan (IBJ), then as vice president of the specialized finance division at the New York office of Mizuho Corporate Bank. Mr. Mitsuda received a BA in Economics from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Yuzo Kanamori

Managing Partner & Executive Deputy President

Yuzo Kanamori

Mr. Kanamori joined Polaris in July 2023 after serving as executive deputy president of Mizuho Securities. At Mizuho Securities, he was engaged in corporate planning, risk management and compliance as a member of the Board of Directors as well as global investment banking business. During his time at Mizuho Securities, he stayed in London and served as a head of ECM and M&A division of Mizuho International. Before that, he worked 16 years in corporate banking at The Industrial Bank of Japan (IBJ). Mr. Kanamori received a BA in Economics from Keio University and an MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business.

He concurrently holds the following positions:
Auditor, SPACE VALUE HOLDINGS K.K.
Auditor, Eclasia HD Co.,Ltd.
Auditor, Social Inclu Co., Ltd.

Akira Iinuma

Akira Iinuma

Mr. Iinuma joined Polaris in November 2004 after serving as vice president of the Investment Banking Group of Mizuho Securities . At Mizuho Securities, he was also engaged in Investment Banking business with a focus on M&A transactions. Before that, he worked at The Industrial Bank of Japan (IBJ), first in the international finance division, then in the debt capital markets division (IBJ Securities). Mr. Iinuma received a BA in International Relations from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University.

He concurrently holds the following positions:
Director, LB Co., Ltd.
Director, Lincstech Co., Ltd.
Director, SPACE VALUE HOLDINGS K.K.
Director, Social Inclu Co., Ltd.

Ryoichi Ogawa

Ryoichi Ogawa

Mr. Ogawa is a Partner in charge of Operations Group of Polaris. Mr. Ogawa most recently served as Managing Director and CIO of Polaris CG Singapore Pte. Ltd., and an Investment Committee Member of Altair Capital Advisors, a buyout fund that is focused on SMEs in the ASEAN region. Before joining Polaris as a Principal of Investment Group in 2007, Mr. Ogawa worked as a Project Manager at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). His project experience at BCG includes strategy and corporate development, and major organizational- and operational-change efforts in various sectors. Prior to joining BCG, he worked at Mitsui & Co., Ltd., one of the largest international trading companies. Mr. Ogawa received a BA in Political Science from Waseda University and an MBA from London Business School.

Junpei Yamada

Junpei Yamada

Mr. Yamada joined Polaris in April 2007. Prior to Polaris, he worked at RECOF Corporation and was engaged in M&A advisory services (M&A Strategic Planning/Origination & Execution of M&A transactions) with a focus on Electronics/Technology sector. He was also engaged in originating and executing M&A transactions by buyout funds & real estate funds. Mr. Yamada received a BA in Commerce from Waseda University.

He concurrently holds the following positions:
Director, BAKE, Inc.
Director, i-PRO Co., Ltd.
Director, GeoTechnologies Inc.
Director, Eclasia HD Co.,Ltd.
Director, Sendenkaigi Co., Ltd.
Director, MASSMEDIAN Co., Ltd.

Toru Kajimura

Toru Kajimura

Mr. Kajimura joined Polaris in Jan 2006. Prior to Polaris, he was engaged in research and dissemination of information in Telecom/Media/Internet areas, as well as marketing and forming M&A/LBO transactions in those industries at Industrial Research Department of Industrial Bank of Japan and Mizuho Corporate Bank. He is the author of several books including "Media Business in Internet Era"(Mizuho Industrial Research, Dec 2005). At Polaris, he had been engaged in investment activities before transferring to Operations group in Apr 2019 to conduct value creation business for portfolio companies. He received a Bachelor in Engineering from the University of Tokyo and a Master in Civil Engineering from the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo.

He concurrently holds the following positions:
Director, O-net, Inc.
Director, GeoTechnologies Inc.

Shinsuke Kawamoto

Shinsuke Kawamoto

Mr. Kawamoto joined Polaris in May 2022 after serving as executive officer of Mizuho Securities. At Mizuho Securities he was engaged in investment banking business for 27 years, covering a broad range of corporates, and did a lot of deals mainly in M&A and finance. During his time at Mizuho Securities, Mr. Kawamoto stayed in Zurich and London as an expatriate staff and have a detailed knowledge of cross-border institutional investors. Before that Mr. Kawamoto worked 7 years in corporate banking at The Industrial Bank of Japan (IBJ). Mr. Kawamoto received a BA in Law from Hitotsubashi University.

He concurrently holds the following positions:
Director, SPACE VALUE HOLDINGS K.K.
Director, GeoTechnologies Inc.

Takuya Sato

Takuya Sato

Mr.Sato joined Polaris in October 2020. Prior to joining Polaris, he was a partner at The Longreach Group, Inc. During his 7 years of that firm, he drove the development of the firm’s buyout activities and played a key role in the capital deployment and value creation for the investments in multiple sectors. Prior to that, Takuya was an Executive at Independent Liquor based in Auckland, New Zealand, in charge of post-merger-integration and strategic M&A. He was a Director in M&A Advisory group in the investment banking division of Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers, where he advised large Japanese corporations on their cross-border M&A transactions. Takuya started his career at the Energy department of Nissho Iwai Corporation. Takuya holds an MBA from Columbia University as well as a BA in political science and economics from Waseda University.

He concurrently holds the following positions:
Director, O-net, Inc.

PAGE TOP