INTERVIEW: Aozora Bank Eyes Stronger Ties with Regional Banks

Tokyo, Dec. 4 (Jiji Press)–Aozora Bank plans to strengthen cooperation with regional banks, such as on syndicated loans, to expand its investment banking business, its president, Hideto Oomi, said in a recent interview. “Finding business partners is important,” Oomi said at a time when large-scale mergers and acquisitions are increasing. He noted the need for “experience and expertise” in leveraged buyouts, in which funds are raised using target companies’ assets as collateral, and revealed that Aozora Bank is accepting trainees from regional banks hoping to gain such knowledge. By strengthening its ties with regional banks, Aozora Bank hopes to be involved in regional merger and acquisition cases, according to its president. Meanwhile, Oomi said that his bank’s capital and business tie-up with Daiwa Securities Group Inc., formed last year, is a “win-win relationship,” saying that the tie-up has led to new customers for its corporate lending services. As for a possible increase in Daiwa Securities Group’s stake in Aozora Bank, currently at about 24 pct, Oomi said, “It’s not something we should consider now.” In the April-September first half of fiscal 2025, subsidiary GMO Aozora Net Bank turned profitable for the first time since beginning operations in 2018. “An age is coming in which even companies think they can do business only with internet banks,” Oomi said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]