TOKYO/HONG KONG, May 9 (Reuters) – Sumitomo Mitsui Financial
Group’s deal to buy a $1.5 billion stake in Indonesia’s
BTPN at high valuations marks the beginning of an
aggressive push by cash-rich Japanese lenders into retail
banking in other Asian markets.

Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s biggest economy but has one of
Asia’s most underdeveloped banking markets, giving it great
allure for foreign investors even if regulatory worries have
impeded some deals.

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, May 9 (Reuters) – Manulife Financial
Corp and Metlife Inc are among companies that
have made bids for a controlling stake in the life insurance
unit of Malaysian lender, AMMB Holdings Bhd, the third
insurance deal in the country over the past year.

Zurich Insurance Group, Hong Kong tycoon Richard
Li’s Pacific Century Group, ACE Ltd and two Japanese
insurers have also submitted first-round bids to buy up to 70
percent in unlisted AmLife Insurance Bhd worth $350 million,
people familiar with the deal told Reuters. Foreign ownership in
Malaysian insurers is capped at 70 percent.

TOKYO/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) said it agreed to acquire as much as 40 percent of Indonesian lender BTPN (BTPN.JK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), giving the Japanese bank a foothold in the fast-growing Southeast Asian economy.

SMBC’s pursuit of Indonesia’s seventh-biggest bank underscores a sustained push abroad by Japanese companies to beat sluggish growth in their home market.

HONG KONG, May 6 (Reuters) – State-owned China Galaxy
Securities Co Ltd set a record for Hong Kong’s IPO market on
Monday, with a total of 21 banks working as joint bookrunners on
its $1.37 billion offering.

That smashes the previous record of 17 banks set last year
by state-owned insurer PICC Group for its $3.6 billion
IPO – and is a sign of lean times for Asia’s once booming stock
issuance industry.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – A deal-making frenzy in Asia’s insurance industry is turning up the heat on buyers to fork out huge sums or miss out on a prime chance to tap into the sector’s fastest growing market, and few predict a slowdown despite the eye-popping prices.

The appeal of Asia’s growing middle class and rising personal income pushed insurance takeovers in the region to a record $30.5 billion last year, according to S&P Capital IQ, a data compiler. At least $5 billion more are in the pipeline and that’s good news for bankers, lawyers and shareholders such as Malaysia’s AMMB Holdings Bhd (AMMB.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which is shedding its life insurance unit.

HONG KONG/TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is in advanced talks to buy a $1.2 billion stake in BTPN, an Indonesian lender backed by TPG Capital, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

SMBC’s pursuit of Indonesia’s seventh-largest bank by market value is another example of a Japanese company seeking to grow in that country’s fast growing financial services market. A sale by TPG would also provide another case of a U.S. private equity investor raking in a massive profit from an early investment in an Asian financial institution.

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG, April 15 (Reuters) – ING NV is
aiming for May to launch the sale of its $1.2 billion stake in
Thailand’s TMB Bank, as the Dutch financial services
company awaits the end of Malaysia’s election to include more
bidders, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The planned sale of the 31 percent stake comes as ING sheds
assets to repay a 2008 bailout by the Dutch government. It also
comes at a time when mergers and acquisition activity in
Southeast Asia’s banking sector is expected to hit a record
level this year.

HONG KONG/MUMBAI, April 10 (Reuters) – Canada’s Manulife
Financial Corp and the Indian affiliate of Standard
Life plc are among the suitors to place first-round bids for
HSBC plc’s Indian life insurance business, a stake valued around
$200 million, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

HSBC plc, Europe’s biggest bank, is selling its 26
percent stake in a life insurance joint venture with two Indian
state-run banks, as it sheds noncore businesses globally.

TOKYO/HONG KONG, April 8 (Reuters) – Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group has acquired a U.S. commercial property
loan portfolio from a Deutsche Bank unit worth $3.7
billion, as cashed-up Japanese lenders swoop in on assets sold
by retreating European banks.

The deal, which comes as MUFG is pushing aggressively to
ramp up its U.S presence, will make the Japanese bank the ninth
biggest commercial real estate lender in the United States, up
from 17th, while diversifying its property portfolio and
allowing it to deploy excess capital.

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, April 3 (Reuters) – China National
Petroleum Corp and Malaysia’s Petronas are considering bids for
Marathon Oil Corp’s stakes in two Angolan offshore oil
and gas fields, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The sale comes as U.S. oil and gas producers scale back
their global ambitions to focus on their home market, opening
the field for Asia’s state-backed giants. An estimated $6
billion worth of oil and gas blocks are being sold by companies
worldwide, according to ThomsonReuters data.