With an objective to diversify its offerings from traditional banking, Shinsei Bank Ltd. is looking forward to investing in promising businesses. And General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)‘s leasing asset in Japan seems to be on top of its list.
As per the reports, the announcement was made by Shinsei’s incoming CEO Hideyuki Kudo. He will take over CEO’s position in Shinesei Bank from Shigeki Toma next month.
Management Call:
While talking to reporters lately, Kudo, 51, stated that GE’s businesses were of high-quality and maintained a constant growth pace. Shinsei wants to first examine how GE’s Japan asset will fit into its current operations before making any final call about bidding for it. Reports claim that it already owns the well-known leasing entity Showa Leasing Co., but it wants to expand further its offerings in the same field.
Kudo has made clear that if there is any opportunity, Shinsei Bank would like to participate in the bidding procedure in the best way possible. Shinsei, a partly owned entity by J. Christopher Flowers, who himself is a sought-after private equity investor has been trying to invest in Japan’s consumer finance field. The company thinks that low interest rates in Japan can help it growing very fast in the leasing business in global market.
GE is trying hard to find perfect bidders for its Japanese leasing asset for the last some time. Total net worth of this asset is close to $4 billion with over 1000 local employees. The company looks forward to selling all the assets in Japan in one go. It’s not the first time when Shinsei has done a deal with GE. Earlier, it bought GE’s consumer finance unit in U.S. in 2008 for $5.4 billion.
General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is looking forward to divesting about $200 billion of financial assets so that it can return to industrial roots once again.
