BDO completes Nomura buyout

MANILA, Philippines — BDO Unibank Inc. has completed the acquisition of the 49 percent stake of Nomura Holdings Inc. in BDO Nomura Securities Inc. as part of the Sy family‘s plan to consolidate its securities brokerage business.

The country’s largest lender in terms of assets and capitalization said BDO Nomura would then be merged with BDO Securities Corp., with the latter as the surviving entity.

“BDO Securities will be reorganized into a full service brokerage firm with an expanded product offering to include non-equity securities,” the bank said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Last June 23, BDO announced it is terminating its joint venture partnership after reaching an agreement on the fundamental principles in acquiring the stake of Nomura Asia Investment (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. in BDO Nomura.

The transaction would enable BDO to consolidate its securities brokerage business into BDO Securities currently under reorganization to become a full service brokerage firm with an expanded product offering to include non-equity securities.

BDO and Nomura inked a joint venture agreement in January 2016 to form BDO Nomura that became operational in October 2016. The Sy family owned 51 percent of the joint venture while the Japanese firm owned the remaining 49 percent.

BDO ranked as the largest bank in terms of total assets, loans, deposits and trust funds under management based on published statements of condition as of end March.

It has one of the largest distribution networks, with more than 1,400 operating branches and over 4,400 ATMs nationwide. The bank has full-service branches in Hong Kong and Singapore as well as 15 overseas remittance and representative offices in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Nomura, on the other hand, is a leading financial services group and preeminent Asia-based investment bank with global reach. It provides a broad range of innovative solutions tailored to the specific requirements of individual, institutional, corporate and government clients through an international network in over 30 countries.

Nomura’s unique understanding of Asia enables Nomura to make a difference for clients through three business divisions, namely, retail, asset management and wholesale.