Coca-Cola West To Buy Juice Maker From Funds

Coca-Cola West Co., the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Japan announced that it will buy a major vegetable juice producer Q'sai Co., which is known as its kale drinks. Coca-Cola West will acquire all the outstanding shares from funds belonging to Daiwa Corporate Investment, Polaris Principal Finace Co. and Japan industrial Partners Inc..

BOJ Further Eases Monetary Policy

The Bank of Japan decided, at an unscheduled Monetary Policy Meeting held today, that it will start providing additional funds with a six-month term in an amount of approximately 10 trillion yen in the fixed-rate funds-supplying operations against polled collateral. With this, the Bank will encourage a decline in market interest rates and further enhance easy monetary conditions.

Asahi To Buy No. 3 Aussie Drink Maker

Asahi Breweries, Ltd. announced that it has entered into a binding share purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the issued shares of P&N Beverage Australia Pty Ltd, the third largest soft drink company by volume in Australia. The total purchase price is $A 364 million. Asahi Group has already acquired Schweppes and plans to integrate Schweppes and P&N to deliver significant growth opportunities and synergies within the Australian and overseas soft drinks businesses.

Wise Partners To Buy Pen Tip Maker From Goldman

Private-equity fund Wise Partners plans to acquire Teibow, the world 's No. 1 manufacturer of pen tips, as early as this week for around 12 billion yen, according to Nikkei. The fund will acquire the shares from Goldman Sachs, subsequently transferring a portion to the state-backed Development Bank of Japan. Wise Partners and the DBJ will jointly oversee Teibow's operations and target earnings growth, eventually guiding the firm to a public offering.

Govt Mulling Private-Public Fund For Infrastructure Projects

The government is working toward establishing a new public-private investment fund to promote the use of private money in infrastructure development, according to Nikkei. The fund will raise money from a number of sources, including individuals, institutional investors and businesses. The government is hoping to use the PFI method to develop a wide range of infrastructure, such as highways, railways, airports, seaports and water resources, with less burden on public finance.

US Investment Firm LaSalle Buys Nasu Outlet Mall

LaSalle Investment Management Inc. announced that it has acquired an outlet mall in Nasu, one of the famous summer resorts. LaSalle purchased Nasu Garden Outlet from Daiwa Land Group. This is the US company's second investment in a Japanese outlet mall.

NTT Date To Acquire English System Firm

NTT Data Corp. announced that it has acquired all outstanding shares in the UK system engineering firm Chelford SAP Solution Ltd. The cost of the purchase, made via German subsidiary Intelligence AG, has not been disclosed. Chelford was proud of its approximately 10 million pounds in sales in 2009.

Mitsubishi Logistics To Make Tender offer For Fuji Logistics

Mitsubishi Logistics Corp., a listed major warehousing company announced that it will launch a tender offer for Fuji Logistics Co., another listed distributor, for 450 yen a share. This price is a 140% premium over its 3-month average. Fuji Logistics's top two shareholders, Fuji Electric Holdings Co. with a stake of 27.4% and Toyota Industries Corp. with 26%, have agreed to accept the offer. Mitsubishi Logistics intends to make Fuji its subsidiary through this operation. Fuji's customer base (Fuji Elec. group) and its expertise on manufactured products complement Mitsubishi's business portfolio.

SOFTBANK To Sponsor WILLCOM Rehabilitation

SOFTBANK CORP. announced that SOFTBANK will be the sponsor for WILLCOM, Inc. due to a strong request by WILLCOM's trustees to directly support their PHS business. On March 12, 2010 SOFTBANK agreed to assume WILLCOM, Inc.'s XGP business and cooperate with a cost reduction of their own PHS business. WILLCOM was to continue its PHS business with an investment from Advantage Partners, a private equity firm.

10-Year JGB Yield Down Below 1%

The benchmark 10 year Japanese government bond yield dropped below 1.0% for the first time in 7 years yesterday. Strong yen which casts a shadow over the Japan's export-oriented economy prompted more investors to buy bonds.

Mizuho Sec. To Invest In India With Tata

Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. one of the major securities houses, announced that Mizuho and Tata Capital Limited have reached an agreement for future partnership on a wide range of businesses such as the PE business and the wealth management business. For a start, Mizuho will plan to invest in a new growth fund established by Tata Capital General Partners LLP. The objective of this fund is to invest in unlisted companies in the Indian mid-market space using the well-established network provided by Tata companies.

SBI To Launch Fund With Brazilian PE Firm

SBI Holdings, Inc., a Japanese financial conglomerate, announced that SBI will establish a fund management company jointly with Jardim Botanico Investimentos of Brazil, an independent Brazilian asset management firm. A new company will manage the new private equity fund focusing on promising non-listed companies in Brazil with a preliminary size of USD 100 million (50 million from SBI).