Channel News Asia are reporting on news from Reuters that Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) said on Monday (December 26) its banking unit will invest USD 200-million in Indonesian fintech company Silvrr Technology, known as Akulaku.
Backed by China’s Alibaba Group, Akulaku offers digital banking and other services such as Buy Now Pay Later. Akulaku earlier received a USD 100-million investment from Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank in February, say Channel News Asia.
“Indonesia is particularly important” for MUFG’s expansion in Asia given the country’s economic size and a high growth potential among Southeast Asian peers, the company said in a statement.
The announcement follows MUFG’s purchase of the Philippines and Indonesian units of Dutch consumer finance company Home Credit last month for about € 596-million (USD 632-million). MUFG made Jakarta-based Bank Danamon its consolidated subsidiary in April 2019.
Channel News Asia report that MUFG is also planning to acquire a Japanese Buy Now Pay Later company Kanmu for nearly 20-billion yen (USD 150.56-million), the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday.
MUFG Bank said in a statement that it was considering the acquisition of shares in Kanmu, adding nothing had been decided yet, following the Nikkei report.
Source: Channel News Asia, Reuters/zl