Ten Japanese and foreign firms and groups have submitted bids as the state-backed corporate bailout agency closed the second round of tenders Tuesday to pick Kanebo Ltd.'s rehabilitators, sources said.
Although the 10 are the successful bidders in the first tender held in mid-August, many jointly submitted the second bids due to the high cost of purchasing Kanebo, estimated at more than 400 billion yen -- the amount the state-backed Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan pumped into the firm, they said.
Kao Corp. has joined hands with U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc., L'Oreal SA of France with U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley & Co., Kose Corp. with Nikko Principal Investments Japan Ltd., and Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments Co. with Zeria Pharmaceutical Co.