Sumitomo Mitsui mulls investing $5bln in US bank

The lender is scouting potential buy among 20 US banks to acquire 30% of banking profit from overseas clients.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Japan’s second-largest bank by market value, may spend as much as $5 billion buying a stake in a U.S. commercial lender in the next three years, a top executive said.

“We can’t overlook the U.S. market in terms of stable returns and size,” said Hiroshi Minoura, head of international banking at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. “We need to push forward with investments, including acquisitions, that allow us to capture a large volume of assets.”

Minoura said Sumitomo Mitsui is studying about 20 US banks but did not name any companies. The potential acquisition in the United States is in line with Sumitomo Mitsui President Teisuke Kitayama’s goal of getting 30 percent of banking profit from overseas clients within three years.

View the full story in Business Week.