Three candidates placed their bids Thursday in the final round to select a buyer for struggling and scandal-plagued Kanebo Ltd. and Kanebo Cosmetics Inc., now managed by the government-backed Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan.
The bidders are a consortium made up of cosmetics maker Kao Corp., MKS Partners Ltd. and two investment funds; Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. and Belgium-based RHJ International, a holding company for the U.S. investment fund formerly called Ripplewood Holdings LLC; and a team made up of Jafco Co. and British investment fund CVC Capital Partners Ltd.
Kao had originally planned to merge with Kanebo before they decided to seek government help in February 2004.