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Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (President & Group CEO: Toru Nakashima, hereinafter referred to as the "SMBC Group") and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (President and CEO: Akihiro Fukutome, hereinafter "SMBC") announced that SMBC has reached an agreement with State Bank of India (Chairman: Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, hereinafter referred to as "SBI"), the state-owned bank of the Republic of India (herein after referred to as "India") and other financial institutions in India to acquire 20.0% equity stake in YES BANK Limited (CEO: Prashant Kumar, hereinafter referred to as "YES BANK"), a private commercial bank in India, (Purchase consideration: 134.8 billion Indian Rupee, approx. 240 billion yen, PBR 1.4 times) subject to regulatory approvals, and signed definitive agreements. As a result of the investment, YES BANK is expected to become an equity-method affiliate of SMBC Group and SMBC. 1. SMBC Group's Business in Ind...

 

   

Tokyo and New York, NY – Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. offers its deepest condolences to those affected by the wildfires in and around Los Angeles, California, especially to the families who have lost loved ones. We also express our sincere gratitude to those providing support on the ground and aid for those in the area. Mizuho Financial Group is donating JPY 10 million, and its employee-supported fund is contributing JPY 1 million, to assist in humanitarian relief efforts.   In addition, Mizuho Americas is donating USD 250,000 to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, and, as part of its Matching Gifts Program, providing a dollar-for-dollar match of individual employee donations to eligible nonprofits responding to the disaster. We hope the funds will help the swift recovery of Los Angeles over the months to come.  

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. ("MUFG") and its consolidated subsidiary, MUFG Bank, Ltd., as a lead investor for this round, together with Finnoventure Private Equity Trust I fund managed by Krungsri Finnovate Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Bank of Ayudhya (“Krungsri”), have entered into an investment agreement for USD 195 million in Ascend Money Company Limited ("Ascend Money"), a provider of digital financial services in Thailand. MUFG considers the Asia-Pacific its second home market and has been building a commercial banking platform there over the past decade. In the Asia-Pacific, there is an accelerating trend of digital financial service providers leveraging the latest technology developments to offer financial services to unbanked or underbanked consumers and SMEs. To capture growth in this area, MUFG has been continuously investing in the region’s leading digital start-ups and tech firms, starting with Grab in 2020, followed by Home Credit in November...

  Project Flow   As a leading bank in electricity transmission financing, Mizuho acted as loan Bookrunner and IRS/RPI swap provider in a £2.2 billion long-term project financing deal. The financing will support a consortium of Meridiam, Kansai Electric and Allianz Capital Partners to develop a 720km subsea electricity interconnector project between the UK and Germany that will be used to transmit affordable and secure sustainable energy. Interconnectors  have become indispensable in enabling countries to enhance their use of intermittent clean energy resources through shared access to energy networks that help to balance supply and demand of clean energy sources and support security of supply. Challenge Interconnectors play a vital role in the transition to green energy. These electrical highways of the sea are growing in strategic importance globally, with the EU targeting 15% interconnection by 2030 as part of its Climate and Energy Targets. The NeuConne...

Rakuten Group, Inc. (Head office: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo; Chairman and CEO: Hiroshi Mikitani, hereinafter “the Company”) announces the details of the shareholder benefit program for the 28th fiscal year (for qualified shareholders as of the end of December 2024). The details are as follows: Purpose of the shareholder benefits program The Company offers a benefit program for shareholders for the purpose of showing its gratitude to all its shareholders for their support and aims to provide everyone more opportunities to understand the services of the Rakuten Group. Outline of the benefit program for shareholders for the 28th Fiscal Year 1 ) Qualified shareholders Shareholders who are listed in the shareholders register as of December 31, 2024, and own 100 shares (i.e., 1 share unit) or more are eligible. In addition, in order to be recorded on the shareholders register as of the end of December 2024, due to the system for transferring shares etc., it is necessary to purchase shares by the cl...

MUFG Bank, a unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, has announced that it will acquire all outstanding common shares of Japanese robo-advisory firm WealthNavi Inc at ¥1,950 per share and make it a wholly owned subsidiary. The bank took a 15% stake in WealthNavi in March 2024. The acquisition will cost about ¥99.6 billion and WealthNavi is expected to be delisted by March 2025. WealthNavi (CEO: Kazuhisa Shibayama) has a mission of "bringing wealth to the working generation" and provides the robo-advisor "WealthNavi", a service that fully automates "long-term, savings, and diversification" asset management for the working generation to have a rich retirement. Since the service was launched in July 2016, the company has continued to release new functions by utilizing its product development capabilities, and in February 2021, it began offering "Omakase NISA", which automatically manages assets in NISA accounts, and is fully compatible with the new ...

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (President & Group CEO: Masahiro Kihara) has bought a stake in US firm Zap Energy (President: Benj Conway), a company developing fusion power and related technology. The investment was carried out through Mizuho's specialist investment subsidiary Mizuho Innovation Frontier Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Junichi Ikeda). Investment purpose In pursuing carbon neutrality, it is important to create new demand and markets in the decarbonization area, while also progressing in areas such as the global clean energy transition. In fusion power generation, a colossal amount of energy is created by the fusion of light atomic nuclei to produce heavier ones. This power generation method is a potential game changer for the clean energy transition, as greenhouse gases are not emitted and it is a sustainable energy source. Mizuho has deepened its understanding of related technology and industry trends, releasing a report entitled Recent Trends Surrounding Fusion E...

      SMFG: Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.

Mizuho Bank, Ltd. (President & CEO: Masahiko Kato) has made an investment of USD 3.5 million in 3DEO, Inc. (Head Office: California, USA), a company engaged in the development of metal 3D printers, the design and development of functional metal parts, and the contract manufacturing of metal parts. This investment was carried out through Mizuho Bank's Transition Investment Facility. 3DEO, founded in 2016, is a startup based in California that offers comprehensive services for the design and manufacturing of metal parts in small to medium lots, using its proprietary production process technology, “Intelligent Layering”. The company aims to expand the applications for its high-precision metal parts, which are manufactured using metal 3D printers developed in-house, and its innovative metal parts, which are based on its extensive expertise in design for additive manufacturing (DfAM),2 into a wide range of areas, such as aerospace, medical and healthcare, and semiconductors. In Japa...