MUFG Innovation Partners (MUIP) and MUFG Bank — the subsidiaries of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group — have established a $100-million fund in collaboration with Indonesia’s Bank Danamon to invest in local companies that can have synergies with the commercial bank, per an announcement.
The fund, MUFG Innovation Partners Garuda No. 1 Limited Investment Partnership, will be MUIP’s third. MUFG Bank will have an 89.9% stake in it, while Danamon will own 10%. MUIP will have 0.1% equity.
In Dec 2017, MUFG Bank acquired a 40% stake in Bank Danamon and slowly increased its ownership to 92.47% as of Dec 2022.
With the new partnership, Danamon aims to increase its product competitiveness, promote digitalisation, and attract new customers.
MUIP was established in January 2019 to strengthen innovation through business alliances between group companies and startups in Japan and overseas. MUIP has invested over JPY 40 billion ($307 million) in companies globally.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is one of the world’s leading financial groups, with a presence in approximately 2,100 locations in more than 50 countries. It offers commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing.
Danamon provides consumer finance, investment, asset management, and other financial products and services to individual consumers, SMEs, and large corporations through 864 domestic branches.
Earlier this month, DealStreetAsia reported that MUFG Bank is doubling down on Southeast Asia. According to multiple sources aware of the development, the bank has internally committed $500 million or more of equity investments to Asia, including India and Southeast Asia.
Previously in December, MUFG said its banking unit will invest $200 million in Indonesian fintech company Akulaku. Sources also told DealStreetAsia that the Japanese bank is looking at more fintech companies in Indonesia, including peer-to-peer (P2P) lending firms focusing on supply-chain invoicing businesses and providing loans to entrepreneurs or SMEs.