Carlyle Names Former President and Chairperson of L’Occitane Japan Shiho Takano as Senior Advisor

Tokyo, Japan, June 30, 2021 – Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced that Shiho Takano, former President and Chairperson of L’Occitane Japan, has been appointed as Senior Advisor to the Carlyle Japan advisory team, effective from July 1, 2021. Ms. Takano brings to Carlyle more than 30 years of experience in the consumer and retail sector.

Ms. Takano will primarily advise the Carlyle Japan team on investment activities, including identifying and assessing new opportunities, in the consumer and retail sector.

Kazuhiro Yamada, Head of the Carlyle Japan advisory team, said, “Ms. Takano is a strong business leader with an impressive track record of growing global consumer and retail businesses. Her deep industry expertise, network and operational experience will bring significant value to our team and our portfolio companies. We are delighted to have someone of such caliber work with Carlyle as we continue to expand our investment activities in this sector.”

Ms. Takano said, “Carlyle has a strong reputation of being a trusted partner to Japanese companies, with a long-standing history of investing in Japan. I am impressed with the firm’s proven investment experience, strong partnerships with Japanese companies, and ability to create value. I look forward to working with the Carlyle team on new investment opportunities and helping its portfolio companies to drive sustainable long-term growth.”

Ms. Takano held a number of leadership roles at L’Occitane Japan, where she served as President from 2004-2015 and Chairperson from 2015-2016. Under her leadership, the company’s directly managed stores increased from five in 2001 to more than 100 in 2017, with annual sales of JPY 30 billion. Prior to L’Occitane Japan, Ms. Takano worked for leading global and Japanese consumer brands including Boots, Coca-Cola, Yves Saint Laurent Parfum and Meiji Dairies (currently known as Meiji Co).

Ms. Takano joins a growing team of ten Senior Advisors and Operating Executives supporting the firm in Japan across its core industry groups. Carlyle has extensive experience supporting Japanese companies in expanding overseas, enhancing operational efficiencies, and strengthening management infrastructure, for both succession planning and carve-out deals. The team has made 27 investments to date and completed 18 exits, eight of which have been through IPO.

Carlyle has a well-established history of investing in the consumer and retail sector, both in Japan and globally. The firm has invested more than US$18.5 billion of equity in over 135 deals in the global consumer and retail sector as of March 31, 2021. Its investments include Moncler, Oyatsu Company, Meisui Bijin Factory, Golden Goose, Supreme, McDonald’s China, Tokiwa, Yatsen (owner of Perfect Diary), Every Man Jack, END., Beautycounter, among others.

***

About Carlyle
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $260 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2021, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. The Carlyle Group employs over 1,800 people in 29 offices across five continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow The Carlyle Group on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

Media Contacts:
The Carlyle Group
Tammy Li
+852 2878 5236
tammy.li@carlyle.com

Finsbury Glover Hering:
Richard Barton
+852 3166 9828
Richard.Barton@fgh.com