Highlights: August 2006 Issue
SPECIAL REPORT: The New Keiretsu
There's a new crop of sophisticated foreign investors in Japan. They're not hedge funds, they don't announce their investments or their exits, and they work secretively with knowledgeable firms like Goldman Sachs and Softbank to make substantial minority investments directly with little-known listed companies like Ardepro, Dynacity and Invoice, Inc. In our Special Report on this 'New Keiretsu' of sophisticated investment firms in Japan, we specifically focus on two non-Japanese funds which each have made dozens if not hundreds of unpublicized major investments in Japanese companies. The first concern is headed by a Mideastern billionaire and his group works with a well-known A-level US political figure to help him open doors for new investments in Japan. The second concern is a US-based investment group that both co-invests with the Mideastern billionaire as well as makes investments on its own. Both groups are familiar to each other, but most readers will be surprised to learn the extent of the Japan investments these two concerns have already made. These two concerns do not issue press releases, one of the reasons why the mainstream press has not picked up on the story. But we have, and it's here, in our global exclusive Special Report on 'The New Keiretsu'. Subscribe today if you want a wake-up call on two major new investors in Japan's corporate and real estate sectors.
Many Specialty Chemmical Niches Still to Find: The ISP Japan Story
US-based ISP Corporation is private and doesn't issue financials or press releases about its activities in Japan. But its Japan president detailed for us the extent of ISP's business in Japan as well as its growth ambitions in PVP, PVPP, SBR, alginates and other formulations used in pharmaceutical drugs, OTC household products, food additives, cosmetics, paints, resins, metal powders, skin gels, house cleaners and natural gas production fields. This is a company that is well placed, working with key Japanese and Taiwanese partners, to capitalize on small-batch specialty chemical niches that most of Japan's big chemical companies ignore. If you follow the chemical, food, pharma or rubber industries, the ISP Japan story is one you should make sure to read.
A Specialist Offers Advice: "The Next-Generation Battle is Getting Re-Defined"
This month, our specialist contributor who follows the video game and software industries identifies gaming trends in Japan that threaten to pass Sony and Microsoft by. Yes, the game industry is moving beyond big expensive consoles like PlayStation and XBox that provide great tech and showy graphics. It's moving to include previously-ignored customers like girls, the elderly and those interested in education. A number of lesser-known companies are making great strides in their niches, and the reasons Sony and Microsoft may fail has alot to do with how these companies have positioned themselves. This feature is all about the new emerging game industry in Japan, one that many will not recognize.Japan Insight: Get the Scoop
Hartford Life Insurance's Japan unit self-reinsures to avoid a second major capital injection into its money-losing Japan unit; Estee Lauder Japan turns the corner; Etc.
From the Editors
Help those local officials...
Plus much more...
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