The nation's three biggest banking groups will soon tell Citigroup Inc. they intend to bid for Nikko Cordial Securities Inc., sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. will convey their plans to Citigroup possibly this week, the sources said.
The U.S. financial giant will be organizing a string of bidding sessions for its subsidiary.
Apart from the big three, other financial institutions operating in Japan are likely to step forward to woo Nikko Cordial, which has been offering stock-brokering and other financial services to individual investors.
The moves by the megabanks will likely set in motion a string of moves by brokerages and other financial institutions to reconfigure capital and business ties among them, the sources said.
The bid for Nikko Cordial may trigger a realignment of domestic brokerages, according to analysts.
The three banking giants want to start assessing the quality of assets held by Nikko Cordial immediately after they step forward as potential bidders, the sources said.
Speculation is rife that buying Nikko Cordial will cost ¥300 billion to ¥500 billion.
The bargaining associated with the bidding process may drag on for months because the global economic slowdown has dealt blows not only to Wall Street titans but the Japanese megabanks as well.