Merrill Lynch & Co. and other overseas financial firms may bid to acquire failed real-estate developer Urban Corp. to obtain its $4.4 billion worth of assets, two officials involved in the matter said.
As many as 10 potential investors, including Merrill, U.S. and European funds and Japanese real-estate developers, have asked Urban to be included in the bidding process for the company, according to the officials, who declined to be identified as the information isn't public.
Urban filed for protection from creditors on Aug. 13 with debts of ¥255.80 billion, making it the largest bankruptcy among listed companies in Japan this year.
Urban still owned more than ¥477 billion worth of assets at the group level as of June 30, including properties throughout Japan and deposits and loans, according to a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Tokyo District Court started Urban's restructuring process on Aug. 18 and will select an acquirer in November, Urban announced in a statement this week.
Urban said Thursday it named Deutsche Bank AG's Japanese unit as the financial adviser for the bidding process. Urban spokesman Nobuaki Terashiki declined comment on possible bidders.
Merrill's Tokyo-based spokesman Tsukasa Noda also declined comment.