MITSUBISHI UFJ Financial Group Inc's brokerage unit may invest in Taiwan's Yuanta Financial Holding Co and South Korea's Daewoo Securities Co as part of a push to double overseas revenue, the head of the division said.
"We are now talking about a new business alliance" with Yuanta, Yasumasa Gomi, chief executive officer of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "We want to strengthen our relations with Daewoo Securities."
The talks with Yuanta, owner of Taiwan's largest brokerage, and Daewoo, Korea's third-biggest securities firm by market value, may lead to investments in the two companies, Gomi said.
Mitsubishi UFJ Securities aims to increase the share of overseas revenue to 40 percent from about 20 percent now, said Gomi, 65. The company has invested more than US$1 billion in the past two years in five companies from China to Singapore, vying with local rivals, including the Daiwa Securities Group for acquisition targets in faster-growing Asian economies.
Acquiring overseas securities firms also offers a way for Mitsubishi UFJ, armed with about US$31 billion of cash and cash equivalents, to counter a lack of lending growth in Japan.
Mitsubishi UFJ Securities raised its holding in Kim Eng Holdings Ltd, Singapore's largest publicly traded brokerage, to 14.6 percent last month by buying an 11-percent stake for S$166 million (US$121 million). Yuanta is Kim Eng's biggest shareholder.
Mitsubishi UFJ fell 1.7 percent to 1,070 yen (US$10.31) at close of trading in Tokyo.