Japan's SBI Holdings, Towa Bank to form capital tie-up -Nikkei (updated)
22/10/2020 08:48
(Adds detail, background)
TOKYO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Japanese financial firm SBI
Holdings Inc 8473.T and regional lender Towa Bank Ltd 8558.T
will conduct a capital tie-up and take small stakes in one
another, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.
SBI will provide its technology and financial services to
Towa Bank so that the lender can improve its customer service,
the Nikkei said, without citing its sources.
Representatives at the two companies declined to comment.
SBI has invested in four regional banks, and CEO Yoshitaka
Kitao had said he wanted to expand that to 10. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2GD12M
It is looking to revive struggling regional banks by taking
stakes and pushing them into higher-margin businesses.
The strategy may get a boost from Prime Minister Yoshihide
Suga who has pledged to strengthen local economies and encourage
regional banks to consolidate.
Although regional lenders are dominant outside of Tokyo and
other big cities, many are tied to areas where the population is
ageing rapidly, and business has been hollowed out. The pandemic
has deepened the pain after years of low-margin lending.
SBI is scheduled to release its earnings results on Oct. 28.
(Reporting by Takashi Umekawa; editing by Mark Potter and Jason
Neely)
((Takashi.Umekawa@thomsonreuters.com;))