Press Release
April 20, 2007
Zaikai Kyushu, May 2007 Issue
Human resources: Foreign company tactics applied to local regions
Zaikai Kyushu, May 2007 Issue
Human resources: Foreign company tactics applied to local regions
Former employee of a foreign corporation is now a solid presence in the local region
Companies such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the Morgan Stanley Capital Group, Inc. maintain a significant presence amongst foreign financial institutions operating in Japan, and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is on par with these financial conglomerates. Headquartered in New York, the Lehman Brothers investment banking group became extremely well-known for its issue of moving strike convertible bonds (MSCB). Masatoshi Matsuo, president of Genkai Capital Management Co., Ltd. (Fukuoka City), engaged in real estate investment in Japan as senior vice president of Lehman Brothers. He subsequently launched Genkai Capital Management Co., Ltd., a corporation that employs foreign company methods.
Originally from Fukuoka City, Mr. Matsuo graduated from Shuyukan Senior High School, from where he went on to the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo. Upon graduation, he joined Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. After obtaining an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he worked for Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc. Later he joined Lehman Brothers, where he oversaw real estate investment fund operations and non-recourse financing.
During his time with Lehman Brothers, he oversaw principal investment marketing in Japan. He also arranged real estate sale and securitization of real estate to cover bad debts of financial institutions, non-recourse loans, and more. One example of investment in Kyushu is the Nakasu Daiichi Hotel, run by the Kato Pleasure Group, which has been involved in the economic stimulation of the Iojima area of Nagasaki Prefecture. Planning to establish a company to take over Daiei's business in Fukuoka, he made the decision to return to his home ground.
Around the year 2003, when Daiei was having financial difficulties, the company made the decision to sell three of its real estate holdings: the Fukuoka Dome, the Daiei Hawks and the Seahawks Hotel & Resort (known in Japan as the "set of three" properties), as part of its restructuring strategies. Mr. Matsuo then decided to set up a company to take over Daiei's business in Fukuoka with prominent local companies providing the capital. Together with Ripplewood Holdings LLC (RHJ International), he moved to provide acquisition loans for the Daiei properties.
In the end, Mr. Matsuo lost the bid to U.S. real estate investment fund Colony Capital LLC, but the connections he made with players in the local economy led to his launching Fukuoka REIT, a real estate investment trust operating exclusively in the Kyushu region.
Mr. Matsuo resigned from Lehman Brothers to join Fukuoka Realty Co., Ltd. of Fukuoka City, which runs Fukuoka REIT, at the behest of Kazuhiko Enomoto of Fukuoka Jisho Co., Ltd. At that time, CIG, an investment fund run by the government of Singapore, approached Fukuoka Jisho with an offer to buy out Canal City Hakata, which would later be incorporated into Fukuoka REIT. Mr. Enomoto momentarily hesitated, trying to decide between selling the property or launching Fukuoka REIT. However, having known Mr. Matsuo since he was at Lehman Brothers, Mr. Enomoto decided to go ahead with the launch of Fukuoka REIT with him at the helm. Mr. Enomoto says of Mr. Matsuo: "He looks like a Japanese, but doesn't think like one."
Entrusted with the task of setting up a real estate trust in 2005, Mr. Matsuo very successfully established a real estate fund focusing on the Kyushu region. In June of last year, after getting the Fukuoka REIT project off the ground, he left Fukuoka Realty to launch private real estate investment fund and established Genkai Capital Management Co., Ltd. Incidentally, most of Genkai Capital Management's staff have worked at foreign-owned financial institutions such as Citibank, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the like.
Companies such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the Morgan Stanley Capital Group, Inc. maintain a significant presence amongst foreign financial institutions operating in Japan, and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is on par with these financial conglomerates. Headquartered in New York, the Lehman Brothers investment banking group became extremely well-known for its issue of moving strike convertible bonds (MSCB). Masatoshi Matsuo, president of Genkai Capital Management Co., Ltd. (Fukuoka City), engaged in real estate investment in Japan as senior vice president of Lehman Brothers. He subsequently launched Genkai Capital Management Co., Ltd., a corporation that employs foreign company methods.
Originally from Fukuoka City, Mr. Matsuo graduated from Shuyukan Senior High School, from where he went on to the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo. Upon graduation, he joined Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. After obtaining an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he worked for Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc. Later he joined Lehman Brothers, where he oversaw real estate investment fund operations and non-recourse financing.
During his time with Lehman Brothers, he oversaw principal investment marketing in Japan. He also arranged real estate sale and securitization of real estate to cover bad debts of financial institutions, non-recourse loans, and more. One example of investment in Kyushu is the Nakasu Daiichi Hotel, run by the Kato Pleasure Group, which has been involved in the economic stimulation of the Iojima area of Nagasaki Prefecture. Planning to establish a company to take over Daiei's business in Fukuoka, he made the decision to return to his home ground.
Around the year 2003, when Daiei was having financial difficulties, the company made the decision to sell three of its real estate holdings: the Fukuoka Dome, the Daiei Hawks and the Seahawks Hotel & Resort (known in Japan as the "set of three" properties), as part of its restructuring strategies. Mr. Matsuo then decided to set up a company to take over Daiei's business in Fukuoka with prominent local companies providing the capital. Together with Ripplewood Holdings LLC (RHJ International), he moved to provide acquisition loans for the Daiei properties.
In the end, Mr. Matsuo lost the bid to U.S. real estate investment fund Colony Capital LLC, but the connections he made with players in the local economy led to his launching Fukuoka REIT, a real estate investment trust operating exclusively in the Kyushu region.
Mr. Matsuo resigned from Lehman Brothers to join Fukuoka Realty Co., Ltd. of Fukuoka City, which runs Fukuoka REIT, at the behest of Kazuhiko Enomoto of Fukuoka Jisho Co., Ltd. At that time, CIG, an investment fund run by the government of Singapore, approached Fukuoka Jisho with an offer to buy out Canal City Hakata, which would later be incorporated into Fukuoka REIT. Mr. Enomoto momentarily hesitated, trying to decide between selling the property or launching Fukuoka REIT. However, having known Mr. Matsuo since he was at Lehman Brothers, Mr. Enomoto decided to go ahead with the launch of Fukuoka REIT with him at the helm. Mr. Enomoto says of Mr. Matsuo: "He looks like a Japanese, but doesn't think like one."
Entrusted with the task of setting up a real estate trust in 2005, Mr. Matsuo very successfully established a real estate fund focusing on the Kyushu region. In June of last year, after getting the Fukuoka REIT project off the ground, he left Fukuoka Realty to launch private real estate investment fund and established Genkai Capital Management Co., Ltd. Incidentally, most of Genkai Capital Management's staff have worked at foreign-owned financial institutions such as Citibank, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the like.
