Daiwa Securities to invest US$330 million in Aozora Bank

DAIWA Securities Group will take a stake in Aozora Bank, giving the bank access to fresh capital after it posted losses stemming from turmoil in the US property market. 

Daiwa will buy about US$330 million in newly issued shares from Aozora, giving it roughly 15.6 per cent of voting rights, the companies said in a filing. This would make it the bank’s biggest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

The mid-sized bank shocked the market in February with losses on its portfolio of office property loans in the US. Aozora has also drawn market attention after a Japanese activist fund became one of its biggest shareholders. City Index Eleventh, a fund with ties to Japan’s most prominent activist investor Yoshiaki Murakami, has built an 8.9 per cent stake in the bank. 

Daiwa and Aozora plan to cooperate in four areas: wealth management, real estate, mergers and acquisitions and startups. BLOOMBERG