Imperial Hotel Ltd. offloaded into the Privy

[Taro Toporific]

Isn't "Privee" just a different spelling of "privy" <hee, hee>? :P
Kokusai Kogyo to sell stake in Imperial
Yomiuri Shimbun / Aug 16Kokusai Kogyo Co., one of UFJ Bank's main borrowers, is in final talks with a domestic corporate revival fund to sell the whole of its 39.4 percent equity stake in Imperial Hotel Ltd. for about 20 billion yen, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Kokusai Kogyo, the largest shareholder in the hotel, is holding talks with Privee Zurich Turnaround Group Co., a Tokyo-based fund listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Second Section, with a view to offloading the shares as part of a restructuring plan. ...
...Kokusai Kogyo had to find a Japanese corporate revival fund to buy its stake because the Imperial, which was opened in 1887, is one of the country's best known hotels and other large shareholders were likely to oppose letting it fall into EVIL foreign hands.

[Blah Pete]

I hope they do find a Japanese buyer who also looses their ass then when the evil foreignerdoes buy it the price may be cheaper.

Lots of business opportunities on FG today; inaka farmer, hotel management...

[dingosatemybaby]

Money troubles at the Imperial Hotel? Karmic justice for tearing down the original Frank Lloyd Wright building (fugly as it was).

[Mulboyne]

[gkanai]

Huh... for some reason I don't get this investment.

What kind of experience does Giuliani or Sage have to help DG?

[Mulboyne]

What kind of experience does Giuliani or Sage have to help DG

Largely the experience of having 10 billion yen that DG wanted. Giuliani has a name value that his company is quite happy to lend around freely and Sage thought it would help them do business in Japan. Giuliani Partners have concluded a number of agreements revolving around various issues of building security and digital security.

October 16, 2003 - New York, NY. Giuliani Partners LLC and Ernst & Young today announced the opening of the Rudolph W. Giuliani Advanced Security Centers (ASC)...The Giuliani ASCs are designed to...provide thought leadership and best practices on digital vulnerability testing and regulatory compliance. The ASCs will be staffed with Ernst & Young "white hat hackers" drawn from military, government and corporate security backgrounds.

[gkanai]

Ah so desu ka.

Well, I figured it was more about the "brand" and the cash. Thanks for your take on it.

[Mulboyne]

Letter to the FT: Vandals tore down Lloyd Wright hotel

From Mr Jonathan Allum.
Sir, Whatever the merits of your coverage of the Japanese economy and financial system, your expertise clearly does not extend to architecture ("Japanese turnaround firm eyes stake in Imperial", August 26). Frank Lloyd Wright did design the original Imperial Hotel in Tokyo but, having survived the Great Kanto Earthquake and the Pacific War, his building was torn down in an act of cultural vandalism in 1967 (although some of it has been reassembled in a park near Nagoya). He cannot be held responsible for the modern abomination that has usurped the name and the site.

[Mulboyne]

Japan Times: Mitsui Fudosan to purchase 33% stake in Imperial Hotel

Real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan Co. will acquire a 33.16 percent stake in Imperial Hotel Ltd. in October for 86.19 billion, the two companies said in a joint statement Friday. The deal will make the land developer the top shareholder of the operator of Tokyo's long-established luxury hotel. Mitsui Fudosan and Imperial Hotel said they reached a basic agreement on the deal Friday and are looking at cooperating on redeveloping Tokyo's Hibiya area, where the Imperial Hotel stands...more...

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Parts of central Tokyo set to undergo major facelift

Winner takes all is normally the outcome in a clash of titans. But in this case, two giants of real estate are locked in a battle that will leave separate imprints on transformed chunks of central Tokyo. Industry leader Mitsui Fudosan Co. is forging ahead with plans to redevelop Hibiya so as not to fall behind second-ranked Mitsubishi Estate Co., which has changed the face of the adjoining Marunouchi district. Both companies have major landholdings in the respective areas they are developing. They both envisage high-rises that cater not only to office workers but also to people looking for shops and restaurants.

Mitsui Fudosan on Friday became the top shareholder of Imperial Hotel Ltd., which manages the prestigious hotel facing Hibiya Park that is associated with famed U.S. architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The company acquired a 33.16-percent stake for about 86.1 billion yen from Kokusai Kogyo Co., which operates bus and taxi services and hotels and has been rebuilding its operations under guidance from the U.S. investment fund Cerberus Capital Management LP. Cerberus had negotiated sales of Imperial Hotel shares with Mitsui Fudosan and Mitsubishi Estate.

At a news conference last week, Mitsui Fudosan President Hiromichi Iwasa said the company plans to redevelop Hibiya, a business and commercial district near JR Yurakucho Station, "in a comprehensive manner." Under a redevelopment project announced in 2005, Mitsui Fudosan will build a high-rise on a plot facing Hibiya Park in fiscal 2012, at the earliest. The company is now considering expanding the project, possibly by reconstructing the Imperial Hotel, which is only about 100 meters from the site. The hotel, which was originally established in 1890, reported about 57 billion yen in group sales for the year ended March. Currently, two buildings owned by the Mitsui group--Sanshin Building and Hibiya Mitsui Building--stand on the site. Demolition of Sanshin Building began in May. A senior Mitsui Fudosan official said the company decided to acquire Imperial Hotel shares partly to compete with Mitsubishi Estate's redevelopment of Marunouchi.

Mitsubishi Estate owns about 30 percent of the buildings in the business center west of JR Tokyo Station. In 1998, the company started redevelopment of a 120-hectare area that encompasses Marunouchi, Otemachi and Yurakucho. It has replaced six buildings, including the Marunouchi Building and the Shin-Marunouchi Building. The new buildings house not only company offices, Marunouchi's traditional tenants, but also commercial outlets, such as retailers and restaurants. Mitsubishi Estate plans to spend an additional 450 billion yen to replace seven to eight more buildings in the district by 2017. For Mitsui Fudosan, Hibiya's importance has increased partly because of uncertainty over its stated ambition to redevelop Tokyo's Nihonbashi district.

The company had said it wanted to transform the Nihonbashi district, where it is headquartered, into a financial center because the Bank of Japan's head office, the Tokyo Stock Exchange and securities houses are located nearby. But many of the buildings it owns in the district are medium-sized, and it is expected to take time to win agreement from other landowners to redevelop the area. In June, the government announced a plan to develop a hub of foreign financial institutions in Tokyo.

[Doctor Stop]

Asahi: Parts of central Tokyo set to undergo major facelift

In other news, some parts of central Tokyo are claiming to forgo facelifts and make do by suggestively sucking on a bottle:

[amdg]

Exploitable...

[Doctor Stop]

It's from Take's post. The photo is linked to his post.