CNA – Mizuho Financial Group Inc will buy United States (US) M&A advisory firm Greenhill & Co Inc for USD550 million including debt, the companies said on Monday, as Japan’s Number 3 lender eyes a bigger share of the world’s largest investment-banking fee pool.
Greenhill shares more than doubled to close at USD14.66 on Monday after the announcement, just below the offer price of USD15 per share.
Monday’s boost helped Greenhill shares erase their losses accumulated over the last 12 months due to the impact of higher interest rates on deal-making. The stock was priced at USD20 in its 2004 initial public offering.
The Greenhill business will sit within Mizuho’s banking division, led by head of banking in the Americas Michal Katz. Its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Scott Bok will become Chairman of the M&A and restructuring advisory business.
“We have a strong M&A practice in Japan. But it’s really early days here in the US and in the other regions. So this is a way for us to scale in a meaningful way,” president and CEO of Mizuho Securities USA Jerry Rizzieri told Reuters in an interview.
Mizuho has doubled down on US debt underwriting since its 2015 acquisition of Royal Bank of Scotland’s North American corporate loan portfolio, leaving M&A advisory and equity underwriting as areas targetted for further growth. Last year, it bought Texas-based private equity placement agent Capstone Partners.
Other Japanese banks have also been expanding their foothold in the United States.
Mizuho’s bigger rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in April announced it would boost its stake in US investment bank Jefferies Financial Group Inc from 4.5 per cent to as much as 15 per cent.
