The Japanese chemical company has agreed to sell its pharmaceutical business to Bain Capital for more than $3 billion, in a bid to focus on its key businesses.

Bain Capital, a global private investment firm, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC) from Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation. The investment values the business at approximately $3.3 billion.

U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital has bought Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma in a deal worth 510 billion yen ($3.4 billion), saying it was encouraged by prospects of regulatory change for Japan's drug industry.

Following rumblings of a private equity bidding war late last year, Bain Capital has emer | Bain Capital is laying out 510 billion Japanese yen ($3.3 billion) to acquire Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma in a carve-out transaction from its parent Mitsubishi Chemical Group.

Bain Capital is nearing a deal to buy Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corp.’s pharmaceutical unit, people familiar with the matter said, adding to a dealmaking boom in Japan.

The carve-out acquisition will allow Bain to capitalize on the “promising signs for growth” in the Japanese life sciences market, recently revitalized by more industry-friendly policy changes from the government.

Tanabe Pharma focuses on therapeutic areas such as immunology and inflammation, vaccines, diabetes, and central nervous system and metabolic disease.

US investment group Bain Capital has agreed to buy Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma for JPY 510 billion (around $3.4 billion), setting up one of the largest private equity buyouts in Japan's healthcare sector in recent years.

Bain Capital said the deal came about following several recent initiatives by the Japanese government and regulators to “accelerate the development and approval of innovative medicines in the Japanese market.

Private equity firm Bain Capital (BCSF) is paying $3.4 billion to buy a 350-year-old Japanese drugs group fighting diabetes and cancer with