Orix Targets Investment Banking Assets With New Brazil Unit

Orix Corp., the Japanese financing company targeting about $4 billion in private-equity investments by 2015, opened a Brazil unit this month to seek acquisitions in South America.

Orix Brazil Investments & Holdings Ltd., based in Sao Paulo, may spend as much as 50 billion yen ($634 million) taking majority stakes in local investment banks and asset managers, said Takaaki Nitanai, a Tokyo-based company spokesman. The unit will be managed by Orix USA Corp.

The three-person operation marks Orix’s re-entry into Brazil since exiting a leasing venture with Banco Bradesco SA (BBDC4) 12 years ago and follows Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (8411)’s agreement to buy Dusseldorf, Germany-based WestLB’s Brazilian unit in June. Tokyo-based Orix is seeking assets being sold by European financial firms as they streamline overseas operations to weather the continent’s debt crisis, Nitanai said.

View Entire Story