(Bloomberg) – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire the assets of consumer lender Home Credit in Indonesia and the Philippines, according to people familiar with the matter.
MUFG, as Japan’s biggest lender is known, became the likeliest buyer for the companies after outbidding other rivals, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The two countries’ combined assets could be valued at around $500 million or more, the people said.
The parties are negotiating the terms of a potential deal which could be completed as early as next month, the sources said. Talks could still face delays or even fail, and other bidders remain interested in certain assets, they said.
While Home Credit had sought to include other markets such as Vietnam and India in the deal, most bidders wanted a piecemeal deal, the people said.
Representatives of PPF Group NV and MUFG declined to comment.
Japanese lenders have been ardent buyers of assets across Asia in recent years as they seek to expand into new markets amid low interest rates and sluggish growth at home. MUFG is considering an offer for PT Bank Pan Indonesia as the Japanese banking giant seeks to strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Bloomberg News reported.
Home Credit, owned by the family of late Czech billionaire Petr Kellner, has been in talks with advisers about options, including partnerships and sale stakes in Southeast Asia and India, to help raise funds for the group, Bloomberg News reported. The owner requested a valuation of $2 billion to $2.5 billion for businesses in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and India, people familiar with the matter said.
Read more: Billionaire Kellner’s family is once again focusing on Europe from Asia
Other Japanese banks, including Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., as well as Southeast Asian ride-sharing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd., had expressed interest in the acquisition of the assets, the sources said.
Home Credit was founded in 1997 and operates in nine countries in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Kellner’s PPF Group is a holding company with interests spanning finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, media and biotechnology. He was 56 when he died in a helicopter crash last year.
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