It turned out that “Bank of Yokohama” has entered the final adjustment in the direction of acquiring “Kanagawa Bank”, which has its head office in the same Kanagawa prefecture, and making it a wholly owned subsidiary. If realized, regional banks in Kanagawa Prefecture will be consolidated into one group.
According to people involved, the Bank of Yokohama, which is affiliated with Concordia Financial Group, has entered into final adjustments to acquire Kanagawa Bank.
Adjustments are being made in the direction that the Bank of Yokohama will conduct a TOB = share tender offer for Kanagawa Bank to acquire all shares and make it a wholly owned subsidiary.
If the acquisition is realized, regional banks in Kanagawa Prefecture will be consolidated into one group.
The Bank of Yokohama already owns more than 7% of the shares of Kanagawa Bank, and it seems that the aim of this acquisition is to further strengthen the cooperation between the two banks.
Against the backdrop of prolonged low interest rates and other factors, the business environment for regional banks is becoming increasingly severe. This month, Hachijuni Bank and Nagano Bank, both headquartered in the same Nagano prefecture, reached a final agreement to merge their operations. In November last year, the Fukuoka Financial Group announced that it was aiming to make the Fukuoka Chuo Bank a wholly owned subsidiary, and there are a series of moves to promote restructuring among banks in the prefecture.