Who We Are
Pinecone is a perpetual investment holding company domiciled in Japan that is the home to a portfolio of high quality small and medium enterprises across different industries.
Our Mission
An aging population is now a reality for almost all developed countries in the world. Japan is no different but simply at the forefront of the demographic curve.
As Japan’s baby boomer generation of business owners reach retirement age, a large number of these SMEs will need to find new owners.
We seek to provide a solution by creating a bridge to the future for Japanese SMEs to prosper long into the future.
Our Approach
We have long been inspired by the Berkshire Hathaway investment approach and its focus on long-term value creation irrespective of economic cycles.
We are guided by a group of highly successful investment companies from the Nordic region known as the Swedish Serial Acquirers who have successfully adopted the Berkshire Hathaway investment holding company model to the Swedish Small and Medium Enterprises (SME).
These Serial Acquirers focus on quality businesses, with a perpetual investment horizon and underpinned by a decentralized operating model.
We focus on quality first and foremost. Long-term business sustainability and cashflow generation is key to us.
We have an investment horizon of “forever” and we aim to maximize long-term NPV rather than short-term profitability.
We operate a decentralized model where portfolio companies retain their identity and operational autonomy.
This strategy has been highly successful in establishing secure and lasting homes for hundreds of Swedish SMEs.
We are adopting a similar approach to establish secure and lasting homes for Japanese SMEs.
Who We Are
Co-founder
Shu is a Japan native with 15-plus years of experience in management consulting, turnarounds & venture-backed start-ups. He started his career as a financial journalist, then joined McKinsey & Co in Tokyo and Shanghai, where he made Engagement Manager. He was also an early employee and VP at Groupon in Asia (one of the fastest growing Unicorn status in Asia) and, most recently, a Director at turnaround firm Alix Partners. He is also an internationally published author with McGraw Hill (”The Mckinsey Edge”) and is multilingual. Shu graduated with distinction from McGill University and received a full scholarship from National Taiwan University MBA.
Co-founder
Andrew is an Australian native and permanent resident of Japan. He has 20 years of experience across corporate strategy, investment banking, private and public equities investing. Most recently, he established the Tokyo office of VGI Partners (~US$2bn global equities fund) focusing on finding great Japanese companies. Prior to this, he made successful investments in Australian SMEs as Investment Director at a SME focused private equity fund. He began his career as an Engineer for Telstra and then as an investment banking analyst at Greenhill (now part of Mizuho). Andrew graduated with first class honours in Computer and Biomedical Engineering from the University of NSW.
Contact Us
5-1 Nihonbashi-kabuto-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo-to 103-0026
E: info@pinecone.co.jp
T: 050-5585-8194
Pinecone in the News
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Resources & Knowledge Base
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