With slow growth and decreasing loan margins hurting growth prospects in Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ has been looking to tap Asia’s consumers. It has reportedly zeroed in on three countries, including Indonesia, Philippines and India, reports Bloomberg.
Mitsubishi UFJ Asia-Oceania arm CEO Go Watanabe was quoted as saying: "We’re looking for a bank that is very strong in both corporate and retail consumer finance akin to Bangkok-based Bank of Ayudhya Pcl.
"The company ideally wants a majority stake in a relatively big-sized bank."
All the three countries are currently at different stages of regulations related to foreign ownership. While India now allows a foreign entity to hold around 74% stake, up from previous 49%; Indonesia is at 40% limit and Philippines allows complete foreign ownership. Indonesia, however, made an exception recently when it allowed South Korea’s Shinhan Bank to buy two lenders and merge them that exceeded the 40% foreign ownership limit.
Sources familiar with the matter say that Mitsubishi UFJ has already set its eyes on Philippines, with the bank reportedly among 12 firms that have expressed interest in buying United Coconut Planters Bank from the Philippine government, which is seeking more than $350m.
Watanabe added: "We’re looking for a bank that is very strong in both corporate and retail consumer finance.
"Doing business with corporates isn’t enough. Having a retail business is something we want, to capture the high growth of the Asian economy."
According to figures compiled by Bloomberg, Asia without Japan is expected to grow at a rate of 6.2% in the current year whereas Japan will see a 0.9% growth.
Image: Mitsubishi UFJ is considering to buying a bank in Asia. Photo: courtesy of Stockimages/freedigitalphotos.net.
