American private equity fund Lone Star and other shareholders announced that they have exited Tokyo Star Bank. Taiwan's Chinatrust Commercial Bank Co Ltd arranged to buy the Japanese lender for around US$519 million or JPY52 billion. The other shareholders include French investment bank Credit Agricole SA and Tokyo-based Shinsei Bank. Chinatrust bank is a business unit of Taiwan's largest credit card issuer, CTBC Financial Holding Co Ltd.
The Japanese Nikkei business daily said that the privately owned bank would be the first Japanese lender to be acquired completely by a foreign bank. The buyout is still pending regulatory approvals. Analysts expect the deal to be concluded somewhere between September or October.
Lone Star became the leading shareholder in Tokyo Star Bank after agencies put together by Advantage Partners, a Japanese private equity firm, gave up their ownership of the East Asian lender due to reported difficulties in paying back their debts.
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