Japan's small banks face merge-or-die moment
21/02/2017 03:41
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)
By Jun Yang
HONG KONG, Feb 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - SMFG and Resona
could combine three regional units. That's a small step in the
right direction. With more than 100 lenders, Japan is wildly
overbanked for a mature economy with a shrinking population.
Negative interest rates could finally prod others into action.
Full view will be published shortly.
On Twitter https://twitter.com/JYang_in_HK
CONTEXT NEWS
- Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Resona
Holdings are in talks to merge some of their units, Reuters
reported on Feb. 20, citing sources with knowledge of the deal.
- SMFG and Resona, Japan's third- and fifth-largest banking
groups, respectively, plan to create a joint holding company
that will own three regional banks, with Resona holding a
majority stake, the Nikkei newspaper reported the same day.
However, sources told Reuters the structure of the merger had
not been finalised.
- SMFG said it was considering "various strategic options"
for two units, but had not taken any decision yet. Resona said
it was "considering various options for future growth" but had
also not made any decision.
- As of 11:43 a.m. in Tokyo (0243 GMT), Resona shares were
up 1.3 percent, outperforming a 0.5 percent gain in the Nikkei
225 Index.
- For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on YANG/
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Japan's SMFG, Resona in talks to combine regional units
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1G52XE
Nikkei article http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/Japan-s-regional-bank-consolidation-gains-momentum?page=1
BREAKINGVIEWS - Japan Inc would gain by fixing M&A sights on
home urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N17N1EV
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(Editing by Quentin Webb and Nicolle Liu)
((junseok.yang@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
junseok.yang.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: JAPAN BANKING/BREAKINGVIEWS