Mizuho ranks 14th in the US for fee income from debt and equity capital markets, as well as M&A advisory services
Mizuho Financial Group aims to become the leading investment bank in Asia within five years. It plans to achieve this by strengthening its equity underwriting and M&A advisory services. This approach mirrors the progress it has made in the United States.
As Japan’s third-largest financial organisation, the company plans to deepen its ties between its banking and securities divisions across Asia and Europe to increase income, according to Yutaka Nanjo, the global investment banking head at Mizuho Securities, during an interview. In America, it aims to be consistently ranked in the top 10 under investment banking, overtaking its competitors, Nanjo added.
He established that in the United States, they have built their own platform before other companies and are in the forefront among Japanese securities companies, which claim UBS Group AG and BNP Paribas SA as rivals. The company plans to establish a presence in Europe and Asia, its primary focus outside America.
Mizuho and its domestic competitors have long tried to expand internationally, so they are undertaking acquisitions to drive that goal. With deals in Japan reviving due to a slew of corporate and government reforms, banks are busy searching for talent to seize the opportunities.
The company bought a portfolio of loans from the Royal Bank of Scotland Group in 2015 to expand its client base. In 2023, the company acquired the US boutique advisory firm Greenhill & Co. to expand its investment banking presence.
The company ranks 14th in the US for fee income from debt and equity capital markets, as well as M&A advisory services, according to its investor relations presentation.
It ranks behind Wall Street companies like JPMorgan Chase & Co., but it is ahead of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which is in 20th place. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. is ranked 29th, and Nomura Holdings Inc. is ranked 41st, as shown in the presentation. According to Nanjo, its business in the US is profitable and a major player in the investment banking industry. Mizuho is in 27th position in Europe. In the Asia Pacific, it is in third place behind Nomura, as per the presentation.
Mizuho plans to increase its efforts by training bankers to be skilled in commercial and investment banking, aiming to achieve its dream of becoming a top dealmaker in Asia within the next five to ten years, as mentioned by Nanjo.
The company will also hire talent from outside. Currently, Joris Dierckx, who heads the Asia-Pacific banking sector, is a veteran from BNP Paribas, having joined the company last October.
In Europe, Mizuho integrated its banking and securities division. The company recently bought Augusta & Co., a boutique advisory firm that is an expert in renewable energy. The company is open to corporate takeovers in Japan, where the practice remains controversial despite growing M&A activity. The company will evaluate if the takeovers will help increase its value or boost Japan’s competitiveness, and if they find it justified, they will consider it, stated Nanjo.
In other news, Landing Arm Holdings’ IPO turns out to be a major success for Mizuho Financial Group, which is one of four global investment banks involved in this year’s largest deal. Now the Japanese company must prove that it is more than a one-off achievement.
Like Japanese rivals such as Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Mizuho is expanding in the US to capitalize on the world’s largest fee pool, despite a decline in deals following the pandemic. Along with Wall Street players Barclays Plc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co., it is positioning to market the multi-billion-dollar IPO to global investors, which is a challenging task given uncertainties in Arm’s valuation.
