Kotak's i-bank in pact for M&A services

MUMBAI: Kotak Mahindra Capital - the investment banking arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank has entered into an exclusive tie up with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and its subsidiary SMBC Nikko Securities for cross-border M&A advisory services between India and Japan.
"Japan is a priority market for cross-border M&A with India, and the growing relationship and synergies between the two countries will only continue to get stronger.We are confident that through this alliance we can offer the best opportunities, advice and solutions to our clients," said T V Raghunath, MD & CEO, Kotak Investment Banking.
According to Raghunath, Kotak Investment Banking, SMBC and SMBC Nikko will play an active role in the growing cross-border M&A activity between India and Japan. SMBC Nikko is one of the largest full-service securities and investment banking firms in Japan. With a combined team of over 500 investment banking professionals in Japan, SMBC and SMBC Nikko have advised on 90 transactions with announced deal value of over US$ 24 billion in CY 2012 year-to-date.
He added that the India-Japan corridor is one of the most important and active markets for cross-border M&A involving India. For CY 2012 YTD, Japan ranks among the top 3 acquiring nations into India and 3 of the 10 largest announced M&A transactions involving India took place in this corridor. This is expected to increase in the future as the linkages between the two economies continue to grow.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Japan ("SMBC"), is the largest non-promoter shareholder in the bank with a 4.41% stake. In June 2010 the Japanese lender had acquired a stake following a preferential issue 1.64 cr share of the bank to SMBC for Rs. 1,366 cr. Following the stake purchase, Kotak and SMBC entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Business Cooperation across various businesses of mutual interest, subject to relevant regulations. Since then, both groups have collaborated in and are working on a number of areas such as trade finance, treasury products, corporate customer referrals, asset management and alternate assets.