MUFG looking for US, Indonesian acquisitions
(4 April 2016 – Japan) Japan's biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), is looking for expansion opportunities via acquisitions in the US and Indonesia, its president has said.
"As a global commercial bank, the United States and Asia are our base," said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ president Takashi Oyamada, told Reuters.
"In terms of growth potential and demographic characteristics, (the next target) is Indonesia. We are looking for acquisition opportunities there," he added.
Acquisition opportunities in Indonesia include ANZ Bank’s 39 percent stake in PT Bank Pan Indonesia and Singapore state investor, Temasek Holdings’ stake in Bank Danamon, which it has previously tried to sell off.
"We are not thinking about buying a commercial bank in Europe," said Oyamada, who took office on 1 April.
The bank has been building up overseas operations. Total assets have grown 40 percent in the past five years to reach nearly 300 trillion yen (A$3.5 trillion).
MUFG's largest deal in the US has been its US$9 billion (A$11.7 billion) acquisition of over 20 percent stake in Morgan Stanley at the peak of the global financial crisis in 2008.
In Asia, the bank acquired a majority stake in Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya Pcl in 2013 for over US$5 billion. Last week it completed a deal to buy a fifth of mid-sized Philippine lender Security Bank Corp. for US$790 million.
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