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A U.S. distressed-assets fund run by restructuring expert Wilbur Ross has
helped to reverse the fortunes of Kansai Sawayaka Bank, a small Osaka-based
bank that had to be rescued by the government in 1999. Under a team of new
executives, Kansai Sawayaka has packed in more restructuring in one year than most
Japanese banks have managed in five or six years. The results belie the
image of Japanese banks as one of the riskiest investments a private-equity fund
could make. In the year that ended March, 2002, loan volume rose-even as
Japanese bank lending overall declined; net profit was 5.35 billion yen ($43.7
million) during a year when more than a third of all banks posted losses; and
return on equity was 19.37%. "There is no publicly quoted bank in Japan that
earns even 10% on equity," Mr. Ross told a group of private-equity investors
in New York in March. "The rapid success of KSB proves that well-executed
restructuring can have immediate dramatic results." Mr. Ross says Kansai
Sawayaka may be ready to go public as soon as next March.
(From: "U.S.-Led Turnaround Team Gives Osaka Bank a Makeover," The Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2002) (Quelle: JETRO Invest Japan!: In the Media, Nov. 2002)
Links und weitere Informationen:
JETRO Invest! Japan Homepage
Walls Come Tumbling Down in Japanese Banking
Ross to the Rescue
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