Since 2011, KKR has supported its portfolio companies in awarding equity worth billions of dollars to over 100,000 non-senior management employees across more than 40 companies. Now, KKR will bring this ownership structure to its portfolio company, Bushu Pharma, a leading pure-play pharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization in Japan, and all of its employees.

This milestone marks the first time a Japanese company backed by a private financial sponsor has offered broad-based ownership to all its employees.

Since Bushu Pharma joined the KKR family in February 2023, KKR has been supporting the company to expand into new and growing segments, invest in capacity expansion and quality control, and explore organic and inorganic growth opportunities to deliver more healthcare solutions.

In this video, Tadao Takano, CEO of Bushu Pharma, and members of KKR’s investment team, discuss KKR’s journey with Bushu Pharma and what this means for the employee owners. Several employees also share their immediate reactions to becoming owners in the company for the first time.

Hiro Hirano, Deputy Executive Chairman of KKR Asia Pacific and CEO of KKR Japan, added, “We are pleased to expand the concept of broad-based employee ownership to Japan with Bushu Pharma. We have already seen from our work with KKR portfolio companies around the world that employee ownership can be an incredible tool for value creation and building stronger engagement with employees. We look forward to build on this milestone with Bushu Pharma by encouraging broad-based employee ownership more widely across Japan as the country looks to develop itself as a forward-looking asset management nation.”

KKR is also a founding partner of Ownership Works, a nonprofit on a mission to increase prosperity by developing and implementing broad-based employee ownership programs.