Kokusai Securities Co. and two Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi brokerage units announced Monday they will merge as part of efforts to increase operational efficiency.
Kokusai Securities, which deals with retail and wholesale transactions, will survive the merger on July 1 with Tokyo-Mitsubishi Securities Co., a wholesale brokerage, and Tokyo-Mitsubishi Personal Securities Co., a retail brokerage.
With combined operating revenues of the three securities firms at 116.75 billion yen in 2000, the new entity will become the nation's fourth-largest brokerage after Nomura Securities Co., Daiwa Securities Co. and Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.
The merged company will be owned more than 50 percent by Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and will also absorb some of the bank's securities-related operations, including its merger and acquisition business, according to Masamichi Yamada, a senior managing director of the bank.
The merger ratio has yet to be fixed. Currently the bank owns a 33 percent stake in Kokusai Securities, 90 percent of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Securities and 13 percent of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Personal Securities.
The three securities firms and the bank will set up a committee this week to embody the merger and to discuss streamlining measures, including reduction of employees and outlets, Yamada said.
He also said a securities company affiliated with Mitsubishi Trust and & Banking Corp. will be integrated into the new firm, although the timing has yet to be decided.
With intense competition in the financial market, institutions are looking to provide total services from banking to securities.
The new securities firm will come under the wing of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc., a strategic holding company of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Trust & Banking.