Janas
Associates
Set to Expand
By Li Fangchao
HARBIN: Janas Associates, a
global investment bank and management consultant, is
considering establishing one or two subsidiary companies in
China next year, according to its chairman Carter Freeman.
"We always regard China s having vast potential in our global
business,” said Freeman in Harbin, Northeast China’s
Heilongjian Province, where he is attending a seminar on
financing and mergers and acquisitions (M & A).
Freeman told China Daily that the subsidiary company will
probably be set up in Shanghai.
“We have to find a place where we have the most businesses so
we can concentrated on them,” he said.
Founded in 1989, Janas Associates is a California-based
company that provides investment banking and consulting
services like M & A and corporate finance for clients.
Worldwide it has helped bring its clients financing of US$2
billion.
Though it only stared operating in China two years ago, its
business here already accounts for 40 percent of its
revenue, said Freeman.
"The government's plan to re-structure its State-owned
enterprises (SOEs) is a very forward-looking strategy," and
there are numerous opportunities to be found during this
process, he said.
Freeman, also a Certified Management Consultant, has more
than 35 years of experience advising clients about M & A,
corporate finance and strategic consulting.
He said most American enterprises know little about Chinese
enterprises. |
"So our rich experience in both China and America makes us
know here and there," he said.
"We are trying to get Chinese companies to understand and
accept the idea of hiring international firms like Janas in
the restructuring process," Freeman went on.
The company's China-based clients include firms engaged in
polyester and nylon manufacturing, concrete production,
high-tech software, packaging and agriculture.
Freeman said one of the difficulties about working with
China's SOEs is that often a reliable financial statement
cannot be obtained. from them.
"This may partly be because of a shortage of qualified
bookkeepers," he said, adding: "Most Chinese companies know
little about international rules in fields such as
international M&A or corporate finance."
Some in the field agreed with him. “We think it valuable to
learn from some international professional consulting
companies the experience of M&A, corporate finance and
management consulting," said Zhao Jie, director of the
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission
of Heilongjiang Province.
"We are interested in, the agriculture and manufacturing
fields in Heilongjiang Province, as we know some American
companies which are very interested in these aspects," said
Freeman.
Heilongjiang Province is one of the oldest industrial bases
in Northeast China and the most important grain production
base in the country.
He said it usually takes much longer to finish a transaction
and invest cash in China than in the US.
"But we understand this as most Chinese businesses are in the
early stages of co-operating with international firms, so
they are right to be cautious," he said. “It just takes
times.” |
Honolulu, HI
