Sparx to Set Up Partnership With Japan Wind for Ecology Fund Share Business

By Shunichi Ozasa and Keiko Ujikane

Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Sparx Group Co., Asia’s biggest hedge-fund company, will set up an investment partnership with Japan Wind Development Co. for a fund aimed at investing in Japanese environmental technology firms.

Sparx and Japan Wind, which sells windmill machinery and builds wind-power generating plants, will provide 500 million yen ($5.48 million) each for the investment partnership, Sparx’s Chief Executive Officer Shuhei Abe said in an interview in Tokyo today.

Abe said last month that Sparx plans to raise as much as 20 billion yen for a fund aimed at investing in Japanese environmental technology firms as mandates to cut carbon emissions spur demand.

The fund will invest in 10 to 20 companies with so-called smart grid technologies and aims to raise capital from global investors as early as January, Abe said today.

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