Citi's Nikko Sale Ignites Japanese Bid War

花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)计划出售旗下零售经纪公司Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.的消息引发了日本三大银行的投标争夺战，这三大银行都将零售经纪业务视为自身在日本发展计划的重要部分。Bloomberg News三井住友银行的标志这样的激烈竞争在日本并不多见，日本的并购活动传统上都是由政府部门组织，银行家们只是被动地将之作为维护日本金融稳定的部分职责加以接受。但对于三菱UFJ金融集团(Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group)三井住友金融集团(Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.)和瑞穗金融集团(Mizuho Financial Group)三家竞标银行来说，身为日本第三大经纪公司的Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.一旦花落别家将给自己带来很大的风险。如果成功收购Nikko Cordial，就将获得它在日本的109家零售分支机构和7,000多人的销售人员队伍，从而得以向日本家庭出售证券。日本家庭是全世界最大的潜在财富来源，拥有15万亿美元，其中绝大多数为现金。花旗正在剥离旗下经纪子公司美邦(Smith Barney)，并将很大一部分业务分离出来准备处理掉。花旗通过2008年1月才完成的一系列交易为收购Nikko Cordial支付了1.6万亿日圆（161.7亿美元），但此次出售Nikko Cordial可能不会拿到这么多。金融分析师们预计Nikko Cordial的估价在3,000亿－4,000亿日圆。知情人士称，最终价值难以预计，部分原因在于还不清楚大约2,000亿日圆的剩余资本是否计算在内。知情人士说，花旗在日本的另一项资产日兴资产管理有限公司(Nikko Asset Management Co.)此次不会一同出售。知情人士透露，三家日本大银行在3月份向花旗提出了初步报价，从初期情况看，三菱UFJ金融集团有可能赢得投标。尽可能获得最高出价可能是花旗的首要考虑，但花旗或许还想让其投资银行业务与Nikko Cordial保持联系。花旗可能还会试图与日本大银行之一组建一家合资企业。知情人士说，这样一来，目前与摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)没有关系的三井住友和瑞穗就会成为更具吸引力的买家。第二轮投标可能会在4月底前后结束，在那之后花旗将会选择一家优先竞标者。投标方的一名人士说，三家日本银行本周接到了相关文件，目前正在进行尽职调查，包括与Nikko Cordial的重要管理人员面谈。三菱UFJ金融集团首席执行长畔柳信雄(Nobuo Kuroyanagi)不久前表示，考虑到当前的金融形势，公司准备在Nikko Cordial等多个项目上采取行动。三菱UFJ发言人和花旗发言人均拒绝置评。Alison Tudor相关阅读三菱UFJ或收购花旗和摩根士丹利日本业务 2009-03-26花旗将出售日本证券经济子公司 2009-01-19花旗集团将拍卖旗下日本信托子公司 2008-12-01 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:25', 'MFG'));Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (ADS)总部地点：日本上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：MFGdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:25', 'MTU'));Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (ADS)总部地点：日本上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：MTUdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:25', 'MGF'));MFS Government Markets Income Trust总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：MGFdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:25', 'C'));花旗集团英文名称：Citigroup Inc.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：Cdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:25', 'SMFJY'));Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (ADS)总部地点：日本上市地点：美国场外交易粉单市场(Pink Sheet)股票代码：SMFJYdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:25', '8411.TO'));Mizuho Financial Group Inc.总部地点：日本上市地点：东京证交所股票代码：8411document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:25', '8316.TO'));三井住友金融集团英文名称：Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.总部地点：日本上市地点：东京证交所股票代码：8316document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:25', '8306.TO'));Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.总部地点：日本上市地点：东京证交所股票代码：8306


Citigroup Inc.'s planned sale of Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. has sparked a bidding war among Japan's three big banks, which see the retail brokerage operation as an important part of their growth plans in the country.Such unbridled rivalry is rare in Japan, where mergers and acquisitions have been traditionally orchestrated by government bureaucrats and accepted by bankers as part of their duty to the country's financial stability.But there is much at stake in the sale of Japan's third-largest brokerage in sales for bidders Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc.The winner will get Nikko Cordial's 109 retail branches across Japan and a 7,000-strong army of salespeople, allowing it to market securities to one of the world's biggest sources of latent wealth, Japanese households, which are flush with $15 trillion mostly in cash.Citigroup, which is spinning off the Smith Barney brokerage unit and cordoning off a big part of the company into a unit marked for disposal, isn't likely to get anywhere near the 1.6 trillion yen ($16.17 billion) it paid for Nikko Cordial in a series of deals completed in January 2008.Financial analysts estimate Nikko Cordial is valued at between 300 billion yen to 400 billion yen. The final value is difficult to predict, partly because it isn't clear if about 200 billion yen of surplus capital will be included, people familiar with the situation said.Another of Citigroup's assets in Japan, Nikko Asset Management Co., won't be sold in the same process, according to a person familiar with the matter.The three large Japanese banks presented preliminary offers to Citigroup in March, with MUFG emerging as an early favorite to win the bidding, people familiar with the matter said.Attracting the highest possible bid is likely to be Citigroup's chief consideration, but it may also want to maintain some links between its investment-banking operations and Nikko Cordial. Citigroup also could try to forge a joint venture with one of the large Japanese banks. This could make SMFG or Mizuho, with no current ties to Morgan Stanley, a more attractive buyer, the people said.The second round of bidding is likely to finish around the end of April, with Citigroup choosing a preferred bidder soon thereafter. The Japanese banks received documentation this week and are now conducting their due diligence, including interviewing key Nikko Cordial managers, said one of the people on the bidding side.MUFG Chief Executive Nobuo Kuroyanagi recently said his company was prepared to take action on various options, including Nikko Cordial, in view of the current financial climate. An MUFG spokesman and a spokeswoman for Citigroup declined to comment further.Alison Tudor