Japanese lender Mizuho to buy Greenhill in $550 mln deal to expand US footprint (updated)

Greenhill & Co

22/05/2023 15:02

(Adds Greenhill share movement in paragraph 3)
       May 22 (Reuters) - Japan's Mizuho Financial Group Inc
 8411.T  will acquire independent investment bank Greenhill & Co
Inc  GHL.N  in an all-cash transaction, in a bid to expand
further into U.S. investment banking.
    Mizuho will pay $15 per share of Greenhill in cash,
reflecting an enterprise value of about $550 million, including
assumed debt, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.
    The deal announcement prompted Greenhill shares to more than
double to $14.68 in early hours of trading. 
    The Greenhill acquisition follows the Japanese lender's
efforts to beef up its overseas businesses. Earlier this year,
Mizuho planned to acquire Texas-based private equity placement
agent Capstone Partners. 
    Of Japan's three megabanks, Mizuho has, however, been slower
to move than bigger rivals Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
 8306.T  and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group  8316.T .
    The Greenhill business will sit within Mizuho's banking
division, led by Michal Katz, head of banking in the Americas,
the statement said. Greenhill Chairman and CEO Scott L. Bok will
become chairman of the M&A and restructuring advisory business,
it added. 
    Last year, Mizuho CEO Yoshiro Hamamoto told Reuters that the
group's brokerage arm Mizuho Securities Co "has room for further
growth" in the United States and acquisitions were an option it
was exploring.
    
    

 (Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by
Rashmi Aich)
 ((JaiveerSingh.Shekhawat@thomsonreuters.com;))