Japan's Mitsui to Buy U.S. Car Loan Companies

TOKYO, May 1, 2007; Reuters reported that Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. Ltd. said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy a 87.5 percent stake in each of two U.S. car loan firms, Affiliated Financial Corp. and BayQuest Capital Corp., for an undisclosed sum.

Douglas Jacobs, the founder of the two Florida-based firms which have a total of about 100 staff, will hold the remaining 12.5 percent each, Mitsui said.

The second-biggest trading company in Japan is strengthening its presence in sales financing, dealerships and assembly in the auto industry globally. The trading house supports Toyota Motor Corp.'s local operations in the Americas, and owns stakes in United Auto Group, a major auto dealership group in the United States.