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The China Post – Asia-Pacific banks, brokerages, insurers and private equity firms are more optimistic about mergers and acquisitions as they seek to expand following a decline in asset prices, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
About 42 percent of financial institutions in the region expect to make an acquisition over the next year, compared with 38 percent a year earlier, according to a PwC survey of 215 senior executives conducted in Jan. and Feb. Still, 83 percent of the respondents expect the global credit crunch and economic slump to last for another one to two years.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. plummeted on Tuesday amidst increasing investor concerns over the bank’s ability to raise capital. The stock dropped 45 percent to $7.79 in early afternoon trading, marking the lowest level in more than decade for the company that has been pummeled by the credit crisis.
Lehman is expected to announce their third-quarter results on September 18. They were hoping to avoid another quarter of sharp losses, after having written down over $8.2 billion since last summer.
Some analysts are expecting Lehman to report losses up to $4 billion this quarter, with plenty more to come. Lehman still has holds about $65 billion in mortgage-backed assets that are continuing to lose value as the subprime fallout trudges along.
Hoping to quell a repeat of the Bear Stearns collapse, Legman has unsuccessfully tried to secure a major investor. Talks with state-run Korea Development Bank ended yesterday due to rumored lack of progress.
"Their talks had not developed to a serious level. There have been several investors who have been in discussions with Lehman other than us," said one Korean official.
Lehman has been in talks with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and the Carlyle Group in regards to buying parts of its real estate and asset-management units.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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Reuters – Blackstone and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co are each looking to buy parts of Lehman’s real estate and asset management units, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday, sparking a broad rebound in financial stocks.
The real estate unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, which includes property and some asset-backed securities, could be worth about $5 billion (2.8 billion pounds), the sources said.
Lehman shares jumped 5.3 percent after the Reuters report. That helped lift the S&P financial index , which had slipped earlier on Friday, by 1.8 percent.
"Lehman has been so shredded in terms of confidence that anything like this is something that can ignite a upward movement at any point," said Michael Holland, founder of money manager Holland & Co LLC.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Alan Schwartz, former Bear Stearns CEO, has decided to leave JPMorgan and pursue other ventures.
“With most of the work on the merger integration behind us, Alan will be moving on from the firm at the end of August to pursue other interests,” said JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon in a memo distributed internally.
Schwartz, 58, is expected to finish out the month of August at JPMorgan. The New York Post reported last month that Schwartz was presented several offers including one from private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and others from hedge funds.
“Despite the extremely difficult circumstances that brought our firms together, Alan has been a terrific and constructive partner through the process,” Dimon added in the memo.
Schwartz took the leading role at Bear Stearns, replacing James Cayne. He was in office only three months before the shocking Federal Reserve-backed buyout that put 14,000 of his employees out of a job. Some suspected he was reluctant to align himself with JPMorgan after such a large number of his staff was laid off. Schwartz defended his company’s implosion, blaming the event on false market rumors of a liquidity crunch.
"I am very proud to have been a part of Bear Stearns,” Schwartz stated in the memo. "It was a special place I know many of us will miss.”
While an insider did confirm Schwartz’s exit plan, there is no word yet on what his severance will entail.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
