Posted by
Gabrielle Cusumano on Thursday, May 17, 2007 2:16:07 PM
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[...] "
Aozora Bank plans to lend more to buyout companies, including its largest shareholder Cerberus Capital Management, to profit from growing demand for acquisition funding.
Japan's market for these loans, typically secured against the assets of the firm being bought, "is very small versus that of the U.S. or Europe," David Hackett, Aozora's chief financial officer, said in a recent interview. "It's developing though, and we plan to be at the forefront of that."
Aozora is hiring bankers and expanding overseas to capture a greater share of global buyouts." See Aozora Bank will lend more to buyout firms (article below)
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Hidden Empire (extended)
| Cerberus Company |
Description |
|
Web site |
|
| BlueLinx Holdings |
Building products distributor |
|
http://www.bluelinxco.com/home.asp |
| Anchor Glass |
Glass container manufacturer for Anheuser-Busch and other companies |
|
N.A. |
| NewPage Corp. |
Coated and carbonless paper producer |
|
http://www.newpagecorp.com/mpd/home.nsf/ |
| Escanaba Timber |
Major wood supplier managing 900,000 acres of forest |
|
|
| Debis AirFinance |
Aircraft leasing and financing company with 250 jets and turboprops leased to 85 airlines worldwide |
|
http://www.debisairfinance.com/ |
| LNR Property Corp. |
Real estate investment and management company |
|
http://www.lnrproperty.com/ |
| Vanguard Car Rental |
Umbrella company form Alamo Rent-a-car and National Car Rental |
|
http://www.vanguardcar.com/ |
| Strategic Restaurants Acquisition Corp. |
Burger King's second-largest franchisee with 226 restaurants |
|
N.A. |
| SSA Global Technologies |
Leading provider for enterprise software and services |
|
http://www.ssaglobal.com/ |
| Global Home Products |
Manufacturer of Burnes picture frames, Mirro cookware, and Anchor Hocking glassware |
|
http://208.55.132.171/ |
| Aozora Bank |
48-year-old Japanese bank with $43.5 billion in assets |
|
http://www.aozorabank.co.jp/en/company/ |
| GDX Automotive |
Auto parts manufacturer |
|
http://www.gdxautomotive.com/ |
| Talecris BioTherapeutics* |
Protein therapy provider for rare and chronic illnesses such as immune disorders, shock, and burns |
|
http://www.talecris.com/ |
| Mervyn's* |
Department store chain with 257 locations in 13 states |
|
http://www.mervyns.com/ |
| Guilford Mills |
One of America's largest auto seat suppliers |
|
http://www.guilfordmills.com/fibers.html |
| IAP Worldwide Services |
U.S. Defense Dept. supplier of services such as base-camp support |
|
http://www.iapwws.com/ |
| Velocita Wireless |
Wireless services provider to companies, government organization, and 20% of all BlackBerries |
|
http://www.velocitawireless.com/ |
| Inovis* |
B2B solutions provider |
|
http://www.inovis.com/ |
| Sports Brands International |
Controls, directly or indirectly, 20 international companies that create and distribute sports apparel and footwear under the Fial and Ciesse brands. |
|
http://www.fila.com/ |
| Exco Resources* |
Oil and gas acquisition, exploitation, development, and production company |
|
http://www.excoresources.com/ |
| Flexible Flyer |
Swing set, hobby horse, and tricycle manufacturer |
|
http://www.flexible-flyer.com |
| G+G Retail |
Teen clothing manufacturer |
|
http://www.gorave.com/ |
| General Fiber Communications |
Residential CATV installation services provider |
|
http://www.generalfiber.com/ |
| Aegis mortgage |
Mortgage banking company |
|
http://www.aegismtg.com/ |
| CTA Acoustics |
Fiber-related automotive parts supplier to Ford, GM, and DaimlerChrysler |
|
http://www.ctaacoustics.com/ |
| Tandem Staffing Solutions |
Staffing services provider |
|
http://www.tandemstaffingsolutions.com/us/default.aspx |
| Formica Corp.* |
Leading supplier of decorative surfacing materials |
|
http://www.formica.com/ |
| Rafaella Sportswear |
Manufacturer of women's casual and career wear, mostly in missy sizes |
|
N.A. |
| Kokusai Kogyo |
Japanese leisure services provider that runs bus services and owns golf courses as well as hotels |
|
http://www.kokusaikogyo.co.jp/ |
| Peguform GmbH & Co. KG*** |
German automotive components supplier to auto makers such as Porsche and Volkswagen |
|
http://www.peguform.de/ger/home.asp |
| Jade GmbH |
German property company |
|
N.A. |
| Airway Industries |
Manufacturer of luggage sold under the Atlantic Luggage brand |
|
www.atlanticluggage.com |
| Pitney Bowes Capital Services** |
Commercial financing business |
|
N.A. |
| *Cerberus is a co-investor with other private investment firms |
|
|
|
| **Cerberus will own 48% of the company when the pending spin-off is completed. |
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|
|
| ***Operations in Germany, Spain, Mexico, and Brazil |
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| DATA: Capital IQ, Dealogic, Standard & Poor's, Dun & Bradstreet, Hoover's, Companies |
All Credit to Business Week at:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_40/b3953118.htm______________________________________________________________________________________
Aozora Bank will lend more to buyout firms
Published: April 15, 2007
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TOKYO: The Japanese market for the loans is growing.
Aozora Bank plans to lend more to buyout companies, including its largest shareholder Cerberus Capital Management, to profit from growing demand for acquisition funding.
Japan's market for these loans, typically secured against the assets of the firm being bought, "is very small versus that of the U.S. or Europe," David Hackett, Aozora's chief financial officer, said in a recent interview. "It's developing though, and we plan to be at the forefront of that."
Aozora is hiring bankers and expanding overseas to capture a greater share of global buyouts, which surged 40 percent to $188 billion in the first quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Buyout firms like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are expanding in Japan as the world's second-largest economy continues its longest growth spurt since World War II.
"Leveraged lending is not only a promising growth market but also an area where Aozora can make full use of its ties to Cerberus," said Toyoki Sameshima, a Tokyo-based banking analyst at Morgan Stanley. "Aozora is targeting a niche as it can't compete head-to-head with Japan's bigger banks."
The bank wants to capitalize on its ties with Cerberus, which sold down its controlling stake in the firm's initial public offering in November after returning the former failed Nippon Credit Bank to profit. Cerberus still owns a 37 percent stake in the bank.
"We've been offered opportunities to provide finance to Cerberus-related transactions," Hackett said, without giving details.
Leveraged-finance loans are expected to grow by 10 percent or more annually over the next three years, he said. Such loans outside Japan represent about 10 percent of total credits at the bank, with domestic credits accounting for a smaller portion.
Cerberus has helped Aozora build investments in hedge funds by introducing managers to the bank, said Hackett. As of Dec. 31, the bank had ¥170 billion, or $1.42 billion, or 3 percent of its assets, in 48 hedge funds. "It's a great source of earnings and we feel comfortable at that level," said Hackett.
Aozora's hedge funds earned an average annual return of 9.15 percent in the nine months to December. That compares with a 5.25 percent return on the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index in the same period.
Hedge funds are mostly private and unregulated pools of capital where managers can buy or sell any assets, participating substantially in the profits of the money invested. Investors poured a record $126.5 billion into hedge funds last year, according to Hedge Fund Research.
Investment in hedge, property and other funds accounted for nearly one-quarter of Aozora's gross operating profit in the year ended March 2006, Tomohiko Inagaki, a Tokyo-based analyst at Lehman Brothers, said in a report last month. "Investors might frown upon the earnings instability" related to risks in these investments, he said.
Shares in Aozora tumbled 12 percent on their first day of trading, wiping $953 million off the firm's market value a week after it completed Japan's biggest initial public offering in two years. The stock closed at ¥444 Wednesday, about 10 percent lower than the level at which the government will agree to an early redemption of preferred shares it bought from the bank.
"We want to redeem the preferred shares to take excess capital away," Hackett said. "The government will only agree to do that if it meets its own profit target and the break-even point for that is around 488 yen a share."
Aozora, which repaid ¥128 billion to the government in the November share sale, needs to repay ¥227 billion more. It may complete that by October when the conversion price on its preferred stock will be reset to reflect the market price of the shares.
Aozora aims to halve its Tier 1 capital, which includes stocks, other securities and retained earnings, from 18.5 percent as of September, Hackett said in a January interview. The bank is looking at takeover opportunities to boost earnings and is open to buying non-banks including consumer finance firms, he said.
Kimikazu Noumi, a former banker at Norinchukin Bank, who was named chairman and chief executive officer of Aozora in February, is focused on takeovers and forming strategic alliances with regional financial institutions, Hackett said.
The bank is also seeking joint-venture opportunities in Japan with GMAC, a finance unit that General Motors sold last year to a group led by Cerberus Capital. Aozora in November said its investment in the finance unit totaled $500 million.
Aozora added three senior executives in the past two months to strengthen its operations including leveraged finance, Hackett said. Federico Sacasa, 56, former chief executive officer of Caribbean Central American Action-CCAA, joined in February and will become the bank's president in June, pending approval from shareholders.
All Credit To The International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/15/business/sxaozora.php______________________________________________________________________________________
In regards to Cerberus's ownership of
| Exco Resources* |
Oil and gas acquisition, exploitation, development, and production company |
|
http://www.excoresources.com/ |
EXCO acquires Anadarko oil and gas properties
Houston Business Journal - February 2, 2007
Continuing its push to sell off assets to reduce debt associated with major acquisitions, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has sold oil and natural gas properties to EXCO Resources Inc. for $860 million.
The oil and natural gas properties, acreage and other assets are located in multiple fields in the Mid-Continent and Gulf Coast areas of Oklahoma and Texas.
Houston-based Anadarko (NYSE: APC) has now reached $9 billion in asset sales since completing its $21 billion acquisition of Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources Inc. for a total of $21.14 billion last August. The company expects further asset sales in 2007.
"We currently expect our pro-forma debt-to-capital ratio at the end of the first quarter, assuming all the transactions announced to date are closed, to be approximately 50-55 percent," said Al Walker, Anadarko CFO. "During the balance of the first half of the year we expect to announce additional transactions and believe we will accomplish our goals for balance sheet restoration during 2007."
The sale of the properties in Oklahoma and Texas took effect Jan. 1 and is expected to close in April.
In December, Anadarko and Dallas-based EXCO (NYSE: XCO) struck another deal, with EXCO paying $1.6 billion for the Vernon and Ansley fields in Jackson Parish, La.
The latest sale includes properties with net production at year-end 2006 of approximately 103 million cubic feet per day equivalent (Mmcfpd) of natural gas and oil from roughly 1,327 producing wells.
Nearly 91 percent of the estimated value of the Mid-Continent reserves are operated, while about 85 percent of the estimated value of the reserves in South Texas are operated. The acquisition totals approximately 290,000 acres.
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2007/01/29/daily76.html______________________________________________________________________________________