TOKYO, Japan: The GC Corporation is reported to be among the winning bidders for the Japanese pharmaceutical company Showa Yakuhin Kako. In a press release, the dental products manufacturer announced last week that it had agreed on a complete transfer of Showa Yakuhin shares with Unison Capital, one of the country’s largest private equity funds, for an undisclosed sum.

Showa Yakuhin produces Calonal, one of the top-selling acetaminophen brands in Japan. It also manufactures and sells a nationally vailable dental anaesthetic for use in periodontal therapy known as Ora-Chu Cartridge.

The company was put on sale last year by its current majority shareholder Tokio Marine Capital, an affiliate of Tokio Marine Holdings, which bought the company in 2008 and held 50 per cent of its assets, alongside Polaris Capital Group and PineBridge Investments, which held one fourth each. The transfer is the third buy-out from Tokio Marine, which sold its children’s clothing business to Nisshinbo Holdings last autumn.

GC and Unison will be managing the multimillion-dollar acquisition through a special purpose company, according to news reports. The transaction is estimated to add an additional ¥50 billion (US$624.8 million) to GC’s business in Japan. The company, which sells glass ionomer cements, as well as impression and filling materials, through four subsidiaries worldwide, says to currently generate almost 70 per cent of its sales in its home market.

Unison Capital manages a portfolio that includes satellite communication services, sushi restaurants and wine shops. Financial experts commented that the latest acquisition is a surprising step for the company, considering its latest activities, which included the purchase of a shoe-repair service and a producer of iron castings for vehicles.

Neither Unison nor GC has commented on the matter as of yesterday.