Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking said Monday that it will buy Australian data manager Link Administration Holdings in a deal valued at about 1.11 billion Australian dollars (¥106 billion, $739.9 million), as Japanese lenders build on a slew of commitments to acquire higher returning assets abroad. The unit of Japan’s largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, will pay AU$2.10 per share, a 23.5% premium to Friday’s closing stock price, according to a statement from Mitsubishi on Monday. Link, in a separate statement, said its board unanimously recommended shareholders vote in favor of the transaction. The deal comes a year after the Australian pension fund administration firm said that it could not agree to "appropriate terms” with Canada’s Dye & Durham regarding a sale of multiple parts of its business that together had been valued at AU$1.27 billion, ending a monthslong saga of transaction talks. Since the last takeover talks ceased, the company has been on a turnaround path, sealing the sale of its U.K.-based fund solutions unit to the Waystone Group after a run-in with Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority for administering a now-collapsed fund run by former star money manager Neil Woodford.

Source: The Times December 18, 2023 07:02 UTC