Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MFUG) is reportedly planning to sell its US-based banking business MUFG Union Bank, which has assets worth $132bn.
Bloomberg reported that Mitsubishi UFJ is working with an advisor to study options for the sale of its US subsidiary, citing people familiar with the matter.
Also, the Japanese bank has entered into informal discussions with few potential buyers, although it has not commenced a formal auction process, the publication said.
MUFG Union Bank offers corporate, commercial and retail banking as well as wealth management services in the US.
It has become a wholly owned unit of Mitsubishi UFJ in 2008, after the Japanese bank acquired the remaining stake in Union Bank for $3.5bn.
As of 31 March 2021, MUFG Union Bank operated 309 branches, with a significant number of retail banking branches in the West Coast states. The bank also has commercial branches in Texas, Illinois, New York, and Georgia.
The US operations of MUFG has total assets of $331bn as of 31 March 2021. MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation (MUAH), a financial holding company, bank holding company, and intermediate holding company, has total assets of $170bn, as part of that total.
MUAH’s main subsidiaries include MUFG Union Bank and MUFG Securities Americas. It has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Canada.
The sale comes in time when regional banks in the US are pairing up to compete with large-scale companies such as JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and fintech lenders.
According to the Bloomberg report, the US banking sector with increasing deals has made some foreign players in the US to contemplate exiting the country.
Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) has sold its US banking arm to PNC Financial Services Group, for about $11.6bn.
