Asia Pacific

Urban Corp., the developer that filed Japan’s biggest bankruptcy this year, may be sold separately after failing to attract final bids due today from investors, two people familiar with the situation said, Bloomberg reported. Daiwa House Industry Co., Japan’s biggest home builder, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Global Investment House (GIH), the largest investment bank in Kuwait, has been downgraded to a notch above default by Fitch Ratings after the bank warned it may default on a loan, The National reported. The rerating to a ‘C’ came after GIH told Fitch that it is unable to repay a loan which matured yesterday. The company has a grace period of 72 hours to meet the obligation before defaulting. The downgrade followed the announcement from GIH earlier this month that it was seeking US$1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) from local banks.

A downturn in sales in recent months has forced DVD retailer EzyDVD into receivership, The Australian reported. The Adelaide-based company has 58 outlets across Australia including 26 company-owned stores and 32 franchised outlets. Only company-owned stores, which employ more than 200 staff, have been placed in receivership. Ferrier Hodgson partner David Kidman has been appointed receiver and manager of the company. As well as a sales slump, Mr Kidman said EzyDVD's financial difficulties stemmed from a significant debt burden and substantial operating losses in 2007 and 2008.

For years, the overseas operations of Ford and General Motors helped buoy Detroit when times were tough in the United States. But now, with the administration of President George W. Bush announcing Friday that it would step in to keep General Motors from falling into bankruptcy, and with Ford in serious trouble as well, fears are growing that the U.S. problems of the automakers will drag down their more successful units in Europe, Asia and Latin America, the International Herald Tribune reported.

Centro Properties Group, one of Australia's highest profile casualties of the global credit crisis, was given a lifeline on Tuesday when lenders agreed to refinance $4.65 billion in overdue debt, Reuters reported. Without the refinancing, Centro could have been forced into administration by its creditors, potentially triggering a fire sale of retail properties in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Centro has been struggling to sell shopping centres to help pay down debt after credit markets froze following its rapid expansion in the United States last year.

Over 100 companies globally have defaulted on their debt this year, affecting $302 billion worth of securities, but that figure could rise as nearly 900 issuers are poised for credit downgrades, Standard & Poor's said on Monday. Of the 108 defaults this year, 86 are from the United States, seven from Europe, five each from Asia and Canada, three from Latin America, and two from Russia. The figure contrasts with 22 defaults in 2007 and 30 in 2006.

Fifty-five childcare centres will close and 241 are on taxpayer life-support after the Rudd government gave ABC Learning $34 million yesterday to guarantee care for 20,000 children until the end of March, The Australian reported. The receiver for ABC Learning says 55 of its 720 childcare centres across Australia will close, and has chosen the 720 most profitable centres to sell to recoup $1.6 billion owed to banks by the failed childcare chain. But 241 unviable centres will be packaged into a subsidiary company and effectively handed over to the government to manage.

Kazakhstan sought to reassure investors on Wednesday that none of its banks would default on foreign debt although some bilateral loans may be restructured, the Guardian reported. Central bank Governor Anvar Saidenov said he was confident none of the local banks would default on its obligations. Kazakhstan has been hit badly by the global financial crisis and has announced a $21 billion aid package--roughly equivalent to 20 percent of gross domestic product--to help its oil-fuelled economy.

Taiyo Kogyo Co., a Japanese plastic product wholesaler, filed for bankruptcy protection today with the Tokyo District Court after accumulating 14.8 billion yen ($157 million) of liabilities, Bloomberg reported today. The company made the announcement today in a filing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The stock will be delisted from the Jasdaq exchange on Dec. 9. Read more.

The top automakers in Asia would not welcome the collapse of one or even all of their three big Detroit rivals, though those who follow the industry expect the likes of Toyota, Honda and Hyundai to gain market share in the long term, the International Herald Tribune reported. The immediate carnage from a bankruptcy of General Motors, Ford Motor or Chrysler would spread throughout an industry that is bleeding cash in a global slowdown, auto executives and analysts say.