TOKYO (Reuters) – The rising yen is helping reignite a push by Japanese companies to snap up overseas assets and secure growth outside their sluggish home market, after the financial crisis quieted their dealmaking last year.

Bankers report a strong appetite for deals across all industries — from Hitachi Ltd (6501.T: Quote, Profile, Research) hunting for an information technology services firm to brewers seeking growth in Asia and trading houses looking to invest in water and iron ore.

TOKYO (Reuters) – The rising yen is helping reignite a push by Japanese companies to snap up overseas assets and secure growth outside their sluggish home market, after the financial crisis quieted their dealmaking last year.

Bankers report a strong appetite for deals across all industries — from Hitachi Ltd (6501.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) hunting for an information technology services firm to brewers seeking growth in Asia and trading houses looking to invest in water and iron ore.

TOKYO/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Japan’s Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Australia’s Macquarie (MQG.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) painted a bleak picture of Asia’s investment banking industry, citing a dearth of deals and frail markets.

Nomura saw its profit slip to the lowest in six quarters while Macquarie warned its investment banking, trading, securities and advisory businesses were unlikely to match the previous year’s level, sending its shares down 3 percent.

TOKYO/SYDNEY July 30 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nomura Holdings
Inc (8604.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Australia’s Macquarie (MQG.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) painted a bleak
picture of Asia’s investment banking industry, citing a dearth
of deals and frail markets.

Nomura saw its profit slip to the lowest in six quarters
while Macquarie warned its investment banking, trading,
securities and advisory businesses were unlikely to match the
previous year’s level, sending its shares down 3 percent.

TOKYO, July 27 (Reuters) – Daiwa Securities Group (8601.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
lost money for a second quarter as Europe’s debt crisis chilled
Japan’s financial markets and a currency derivatives position
turned sour, adding urgency to its Asian expansion plans.

A slump in trading profits and fees to manage share offerings
left Daiwa, Japan’s second largest securities company,
susceptible to an almost 10 billion yen loss ($115 million) on an
Australian dollar derivatives deal.

TOKYO, July 26 (Reuters) – The Tokyo Stock Exchange [TSE.UL]
said it would consider extending its trading hours, seeking to
boost volumes and fend off growing competition from rival
exchanges in Asia.

The world’s No.2 bourse will start reviewing its trading
times for the third time as some Japanese firms start to list
overseas and as alternative exchanges enter Japan.

TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is planning
to sell its stake in Japan’s Teibow Co, a maker of felt pen
nibs, in a deal that could be worth about 10 billion yen ($113
million), according to five people with direct knowledge of the
matter.

Goldman bought an 86 percent stake in Teibow, a
Shizuoka-based company which also has an office in Shanghai, in
2006, when the private equity market peaked in Japan, for an
undisclosed amount.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Daiwa Securities Group (8601.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Japan’s second-largest brokerage, said it plans to double the number of analysts it has covering Asian stocks to more than 100 in the next two years as it pursues expansion in the region.

It also plans to double the number of Asian companies covered by its analysts to more than 700 in the same period, Takashi Hibino, a deputy president of Daiwa Securities, told the Reuters Japan Investment Summit.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Daiwa Securities Group(8601.T: Quote, Profile, Research), Japan’s second-largest brokerage, said it plans to double the number of analysts covering Asian stocks to more than 100 in the next two years as its pursues expansion in the region.

It also plans to double the number of Asian companies covered by its analysts to more than 700 in the same period, Takashi Hibino, a deputy president of Daiwa Securities, told the Reuters Japan Investment Summit.

TOKYO, June 30 (Reuters) – Daiwa Securities Group (8601.T: Quote, Profile, Research),
Japan’s second-largest brokerage, said it plans to double the
number of analysts covering Asian stocks to more than 100 in the
next two years as its pursues expansion in the region.

It also plans to double the number of Asian companies covered
by its analysts to more than 700 in the same period, Takashi
Hibino, a deputy president of Daiwa Securities, told the Reuters
Japan Investment Summit.