This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 5:38 p.m. on June 8, 2026.
MBK Partners has completed the acquisition of Japanese aluminum packaging company Altemira Holdings. It comes a little over a month after it walked away from acquiring Japanese machine tool maker Makino Milling Machine in April.
Both M&A deals were subject to economic security reviews under Japan's foreign exchange law, but the outcomes were the opposite. In Makino Milling's case, it holds high-performance machine tool technology directly connected to the defense industry supply chain and failed to clear the Japanese authorities' review threshold, whereas Altemira is engaged in business related to secondary battery materials and is seen as unlikely to involve core technology.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 8th, MBK Partners recently completed a transaction to acquire a controlling equity stake in Altemira Holdings from Apollo Global Management. The acquisition amount is about 130 billion yen (about 1.2 trillion won) on an enterprise value (EV) basis.
Altemira is a company launched in 2022 by integrating parts of the aluminum businesses of Showa Denko (now Resonac Holdings) and Mitsubishi Materials. It produces aluminum cans, aluminum foil, and rolled and extruded products, and has a recycling value chain spanning from collecting used beverage cans to processing, slab casting, coil rolling, and beverage can manufacturing.
The key variable in this transaction was the Japanese government's review under the foreign exchange law. Under Japan's foreign exchange law, if a foreign investor seeks to acquire equity in corporations in designated industries that could affect national security, public order, or public safety, they must file in advance and undergo a review. In Altemira's case, because it handles aluminum materials and manufacturing, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Finance conducted the review.
Altemira became subject to Japanese government review because some businesses, such as aluminum foil and rolled products, touch the lithium-ion battery supply chain. To strengthen economic security, the Japanese government in 2023 added secondary batteries and components, materials, and manufacturing equipment, as well as machine tools, industrial robots, and component manufacturing, to the pre-review list.
MBK Partners secured approval from Japanese authorities last month after about two months of pre-review. That is the exact opposite of the Makino Milling acquisition. Earlier, MBK Partners had decided to conduct a tender offer for all Makino Milling shares at 11,751 yen per share, but in April it received a recommendation from the Japanese government to halt the equity acquisition process. The reason was that the high-performance machine tools Makino Milling produces could be used for defense purposes.
What divided the outcomes of the two transactions was how closely the target companies' technologies were linked to the defense industry. Altemira engages to some extent in battery material businesses such as aluminum foil for lithium-ion batteries, placing it under foreign exchange law review, but its aluminum cans and foil, rolled and extruded products, and recycling businesses accounted for a much larger share. As a result, Japanese authorities appear to have concluded that even if foreign capital acquires Altemira, there is little likelihood that defense technologies or know-how for producing munitions would be transferred.
Makino Milling, by contrast, was different. Its high-precision machine tools can be used to process aircraft engines and rocket and missile parts. Given that the company's processing technologies and customer information could, if leaked externally, affect the defense supply chain, the Japanese government is seen to have reacted far more sensitively.
MBK Partners is expected to accelerate expansion in Asia by leveraging Altemira's aluminum can and foil manufacturing capabilities and its production base in Vietnam. Expanding sales of high value-added industrial products is also cited as one of its growth strategies.