Scavengers and scratchers of value
Asia's collapse has generated surprisingly few deals so far. GE Capital, the financial services division of General Electric, is doing its best to change that. From the start of the Great Asian Fire Sale, no firm has been a more aggressive buyer than GE Capital, the world's largest non-bank commercial lender.
Since February, it has taken a 100% stake in a Thai auto-financing business; entered into a joint venture with Thailand's Central Group of Companies that will issue private-label credit cards; formed a joint- venture life-insurance company with Japan's Toho Mutual Life; and purchased Philippine Asia Life Assurance Corporation.
Many more deals may be on the way; analysts predict that GE Capital will make as much as $40 billion in acquisitions during the next two to three years.
Labour intensive
Orchestrating the shopping spree in Asia ex-Japan is Daniel Mudd, the 40-year-old president of GE Capital Asia-Pacific. A decorated former marine and graduate of Harvard University, Mudd joined GE Capital in 1991 following a stint as a management consultant with Peat Marwick.
Mudd, based in Hong Kong, oversees a family of businesses that employs some 3,500 people across east Asia.