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Bloomberg – Aozora Bank Ltd., the Japanese lender controlled by Cerberus Capital Management LP, posted its first loss in a decade, after investments in U.S. lender GMAC LLC and Bernard Madoff soured.

The bank booked a 242.6 billion yen ($2.5 billion) deficit in the year ended March 31, compared with a profit of 5.93 billion yen a year earlier, it said in a statement today. It lost 35.8 billion yen on U.S. auto financing company GMAC.

Aozora, rescued by Japan’s government during the 1990s banking crisis, has pledged to focus on domestic lending after racking up losses in the U.S. Chief Executive Officer Brian Prince, who replaced Federico Sacasa on Feb. 10 when the bank forecast a loss, declined to comment on reports he merge the company with Shinsei Bank Ltd.

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – GMAC LLC, the financing arm of struggling U.S. automaker GM, will receive $6 billion from the federal government.

The deal entails the treasury purchasing $5 billion in senior preferred equity in the company, while providing GM with a $1 billion loan.  This is in addition to the earlier $17.4 billion required to keep both GM and Chrysler afloat.

The government said the deal comes as “part of a broader program to assist the domestic automotive industry in becoming financially viable.”  GMAC will pay an 8 percent dividend as part of the deal, while the Treasury will receive preferred equity via warrants from GMAC, equaling 5 percent of the preferred-stock purchase.  These will pay a 9 percent dividend.

Originally, the Fed’s loan required GMAC to raise new capital through a debt-equity swap that was unsuccessful multiple times.  The company had said it would raise $30 billion by converting some of its debt to preferred-stock holdings.  As of last week, after multiple extensions, GMAC was still short.  However, they have announced amidst the government’s aid, that they have been able to raise the capital.

GMAC recently changed its status to a bank-holding company, so they could be eligible for federal help and other advantages.  The company says they plan on making credit more readily available again to consumers, after a large drop in auto financing due to their own financial woes.  The new status also entitles GMAC to receive short-term emergency loans from the government if needed.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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