Global investment firm KKR is launching a tender offer to make Tokyo-listed Forum Engineering private at 1,710 yen per share, according to an announcement.
The tender offer price represents a 40.74% premium to the stock’s six-month simple average to November 7. KKR is making the tender offer through KJ003, an entity owned by investment funds it manages.
Forum Engineering’s board has endorsed the offer and recommended that shareholders tender, the two firms said in a statement.
The firm provides engineering staffing services focused on electromechanical talent and says it employs about 4,500 full-time engineers.
KKR said it intends to introduce a broad-based employee ownership program post-acquisition, similar to initiatives it used at other Japan portfolio companies.
In line with the tender offer, Forum Engineering founder Izumi Okubo, whose combined holdings with affiliated entities amount to 51.7%, has agreed to tender a portion of those stakes. La Terre Next General Incorporated Association and Okubo are tendering their entire 7.11% and 7.51% holdings, respectively, into KKR’s bid.
Major shareholder La Terre Holdings also agreed to tender its 37.07% stake into a planned tender offer by Forum Engineering for its own shares that will follow the successful completion of KKR’s bid.
After the tender and self-tender, Okubo plans to reinvest indirectly alongside KKR via La Terre Next in vehicles that will own Forum Engineering.
“By taking the company private with KKR as our strategic partner, we can focus on evolving our business model for the next era without being constrained by short-term performance pressures,” said Forum Engineering representative director, president, and CEO Tsutomu Sato.
Funds for the acquisition will come predominantly from KKR’s Global Impact Fund II.
KKR said the investment aligns with its strategy to back companies contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals, citing Forum Engineering’s role in supplying skilled labour to Japan’s industrial base amid demographic pressure.
“Forum Engineering is directly addressing the widening skills gap in Japan by connecting skilled engineers with companies driving innovation and economic growth,” said George Aitken, managing director and head of Global Impact Asia Pacific at KKR.
The tender offer comes as KKR secured $3 billion in commitments for its third pan-Asia infrastructure fund as of Q3 2025, the firm said in its earnings call with analysts.
Asia Pacific Infrastructure Investors III, which is reportedly targeting over $9 billion, has received $40 million in commitments from the Employees Retirement System of Texas, DealStreetAsia reported in September.
KKR’s third infrastructure fund for the region, alongside Global Infrastructure V, K-Series Infrastructure, and Global Atlantic inflows, boosted the group’s real assets under management to $186 billion, per its earning release. This was 14% higher year-over-year, with $10 billion of organic new capital raised in the third quarter of 2025 and $24 billion as of Nov 7.
