Korea M&A Corporation

SUSIE GHARIB: The recession is taking a huge toll on mergers and acquisitions around the globe. M&A activity is off by more than 35 percent this year. But it's a much different story for one company. Lucy Craft looks at a Japanese firm that still has a buyer's appetite. LUCY CRAFT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: A salty aroma wafts through medieval archways of Noda City, east of Tokyo. W..

In Asia Pacific, nowhere are the stakes in BlackRock's $13.5 billion acquisition of Barclays Global Investors bigger than in Japan. BlackRock will be buying a franchise that is the biggest manager of corporate pension money, as well as a significant manager of public fund assets. BGI's business model, however, is generic and already replicated by domestic trust banks, which can be expected to po..

As oil prices rebound past $ 70 per barrel, China's three major oil companies, PetroChina, SinoPec and CNOOC, are stepping up their overseas M&A activities before the prices return to $100 per barrel. PetroChina and CNOOC are seeking to acquire 30% of Ghana’s Jubilee oil field from owner Kosmos Energy Corporation (Kosmos). Although CNOOC itself is unwilling to disclose its offering price, indust..

Swiss food and beverage giant Nestle will step up investment in Southeast Asia despite the impact of the global economic crisis, the company's chief executive said here. Paul Bulcke said the financial downturn was not deterring Nestle from committing 260 million Swiss Francs (241 million US dollars) to the region, a 15-20 percent increase from 2008. "I see more opportunities than problems," he s..

When a commodity that is put up for sale has a number of interested buyers, trade should build up as long as the price remains reasonable. That's the story of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB). U.S.-based hedge fund Loan Star has been trying to dispose of its 51-percent stake in the lender for the past few years. Loan Star's attempts have failed for some reason, but interest in KEB is starting to heat u..

Sompo Japan, the country’s second-largest non-life insurer, is taking a 50 per cent stake in Brazil’s Maritima Seguros for Y14.4bn ($151m), its largest overseas investment. Sompo Japan’s move, which will make it Maritima’s largest shareholder, highlights the rush by Japanese financial institutions to build a global presence in the face of a saturated market and shrinking population at home. Toki..