Japanese Bank May Join Bid for GMAC

Japan's Norinchukin Bank is considering joining a consortium led by U.S. Cerberus Group to acquire General Motors Corp.'s finance division GMAC. Norinchukin Bank would invest approximately $1 billion in the deal.

Norinchukin Bank is a central bank for agricultural co-operatives and is considered to be one of the largest financial institutions in Japan.

GMAC provides automotive and commercial financing as well as mortgage and real estate services. It earned $2.8 billion last year. The auto operations portion of GM lost approximately $8.6 billion in 2005 and is currently undergoing a wide-reaching restructuring. Plans include cutting approximately 30,000 jobs and over 10 North American facilities through 2008.