TOKYO-- Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is in advanced talks with
the Royal Bank of Scotland Group to buy its U.S. loan assets,
according to people familiar with the matter.
The value of the deal will likely be worth several billion
dollars, one of the people said.
An official announcement is likely to come soon, the people
said.
If the sale comes to pass, it would be the latest move by the
British bank, which is 80% controlled by the U.K. government, to
scale back on its global operations. For Mizuho, the move would
help it expand its lending operations in North America.
Faced with sluggish domestic lending demand, and with
profitability low as a result of the Bank of Japan keeping interest
rates near zero, deep-pocketed Japanese banks have a powerful
incentive to broaden their horizons overseas.
While they are beefing up their businesses particularly in Asia,
they are also checking out assets and operations put up for sale by
European rivals that are trying to cut back their riskier
businesses to comply with tighter capital rules being phased in
world-wide.
Write to Atsuko Fukase at atsuko.fukase@wsj.com
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