Mark Chiba

Mark Chiba is Group Chairman, Partner, and co-founder of The Longreach Group, a Japan-focused private equity firm he established in 2003. At Longreach he leads firm management and investment strategy, drives senior relationship-driven deal origination and execution, and is responsible for building the firm's capabilities, capital base, and global networks — working closely with investment professionals and portfolio-company management on value creation and exits. He is based in Hong Kong, with the firm also operating out of Tokyo.

Chiba is an Australian national whose parents were Hungarian refugees to Australia (the family name was anglicized from "Csiba" to "Chiba"). He was a student activist before becoming a career investment banker. Immediately prior to founding Longreach, he held senior roles at UBS, including CEO and President of UBS Securities Japan, Chairman of Asia-Pacific Investment Banking, and membership of the UBS Global Investment Bank Board and Global Investment Banking Management Committee. He moved to Japan in 1999 to lead the turnaround of UBS's business there. Earlier in his career he worked in the M&A department of the leading Australian law firm Blake Dawson Waldron.

He holds First Class Honours degrees in Economics (University of Melbourne) and Law (University of Sydney), and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he earned a Master of Philosophy in International Relations (Distinction). He has served on the Australian Government's Trade and Investment Policy Advisory Council and remains active in Rhodes Scholarship development and not-for-profit causes.

Under Chiba's leadership, Longreach has positioned itself as a leading player in Japan's mid-cap buyout market, distinguished by its cross-border capabilities and a track record of complex corporate carve-outs from major corporations such as Hitachi, Fujitsu, and Panasonic.

• Invests via control buyouts, not seed/angel or minority stakes — targeting mid-market Japanese and Japan-related businesses.
• Core deal types: corporate divestitures/carve-outs, founder-succession transitions, going-private transactions, and management partnerships — situations where operational and cross-cultural complexity creates value-unlock opportunities.
• Sector concentration in industrial & technology, business services, and consumer-related companies.
• Differentiates on cross-border, cross-cultural execution — bridging Japanese corporate sellers with global operating and capital networks, a capability domestic-only firms lack.
• Sees the greatest opportunity in the mid-market, arguing that while foreign capital has crowded the large-cap Japan market, the mid-cap segment retains significant room for growth. Chiba has publicly forecast an uptick in Japan PE exits, estimating 20–30% growth in 2025 versus 2024 despite global public-market volatility.
• Frames the firm around "old-fashioned values" and long-term partnership with management teams and portfolio companies.