AFP via Yahoo: Sumitomo Mitsui, Daiwa Securities to launch merger talks
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan's third largest bank, and Daiwan Securities Group Inc. will launch merger talks in a bid to integrate their operations by early 2006, a report said. Sumitomo and Daiwa, Japan's second largest securities firm, will finalize a merger proposal as early as next month, the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, adding the two have already informed financial authorities of the plan. If merged, their combined assets would stand at some 140 trillion yen (1.3 trillion dollars), it said.
Bloomberg: Sumitomo Mitsui May Strengthen Ties With Daiwa
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. President Yoshifumi Nishikawa said Japan's third-largest bank may strengthen ties with investment-banking partner Daiwa Securities Group Inc., the nation's second-biggest brokerage. "We've always been close and there is a possibility something may happen," Nishikawa, 66, said in Tokyo today after a Nikkei report the two companies are considering a merger. "I know about the reports but there are no concrete facts."..."We have no plans to start merger talks," Daiwa Securities said in a statement released through the exchange. Sumitomo Mitsui released a similar statement after Nishikawa spoke to reporters.
If this merger comes off then SMFG will almost certainly be giving up on UFJ. There won't be much left to buy in Japan if this goes through although there is still a chance that Citigroup's JV with Nikko will get trumped by another bidder someday.
