GCA Holdings Shares Surge in Tokyo on Plan to Buy U.S. M&A Firm

GCA Holdings Corp. shares surged as much as 17 percent, the stock's daily allowable gain, after the investment-advisory firm said it will acquire a U.S. company.

The shares rose as much as 100,000 yen to 694,000 and finished the morning trading session on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at 663,000.

Tokyo-based GCA, the second-ranked Japanese adviser on mergers this year, will acquire closely held Savvian LLC for about 90 billion yen ($780 million) to expand abroad.

Savvian, formed in 2003 and based in San Francisco, has consulted on more than 70 transactions worth a combined $12 billion, according to a statement from the company.

The U.S. firm is controlled by partners including Chief Executive Officer Todd Carter and has offices in New York and Chicago.

Jiro Kojima, senior strategist with Daiwa Institute of Research, said the acquisition would allow GCA to attract more clients. Even so, there are concerns about the acquisition because Savvian's finances haven't been fully disclosed, he said.