Firm Helps Retailer Ito-Yokado Tap into the US Bond Market

Goldman Sachs helps facilitate Japanese retailer Ito-Yokado’s participation in the Yankee bond market in 1977.

In 1977, three years after the opening of its representative office in Tokyo, Goldman Sachs, Nomura Securities International, Inc., and J. Henry Schroder Wagg & Co., Ltd., led a syndicate offering US$50 million in Yankee bonds on behalf of Ito-Yokado. The Japanese retailer looked to the size and liquidity of the US bond market to help finance the expansion of its stores.

While Yankee bonds were a common source of funds for sovereign borrowers, foreign corporations had rarely availed themselves of this option. This was attributed partly to the intricacies of registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Ito-Yokado offering was yet another sign of the expanding and evolving global presence of Goldman Sachs. That year alone the value of public offerings by the firm in the United States was to reach US$940 million.

 

This article was originally published as part of a series commemorating the 150th anniversary of Goldman Sachs’ founding in 1869.