Just weeks after taking control of Fullerton India Credit, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has shown a further example of its international ambitions by taking a stake in Jefferies and striking a strategic alliance with the US-based investment bank.
Sumitomo Mitsui – known at the group level as SMBC, though more commonly referred to by analysts as SMFG – will take a 4.9% stake in the firm, worth $386 million, based on the Jefferies closing price of July 13.
An announcement on July 14 said the alliance was “to collaborate on future corporate and investment banking business opportunities”. The statement specifically mentions US leveraged finance, cross-border M&A involving Japanese companies, and US healthcare.
The heart of the idea is to combine SMBC’s balance sheet and Jefferies’ international reach in investment banking.
This is not just a conceptual ambition: the announcement comes with a $1.65 billion revolving credit facility and $250 million subordinated loan from SMBC to the leveraged finance underwriting affiliate of Jefferies, as well as an additional $350 million revolving credit facility to Jefferies more broadly.
The two institutions have a relationship going back at least 10 years, particularly in equity trading in Japan and the US.
