© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: SBI Holdings CEO Yoshitaka Kitao speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo, Japan July 7, 2020. REUTERS/Junko Fujita
TOKYO (Reuters) -The chief executive of Japanese financial services firm SBI Holdings Inc, owner of a nearly 48% stake in Shinsei Bank Ltd, said on Wednesday it’s worth pursuing the option of taking the lender private to return more than $3 billion in public funds it received two decades ago.
SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao made the comment at a news conference after SBI completed a tender offer for Shinsei Bank, raising its holding in the mid-sized lender to 47.77% from about 20%.
“We’ve just started exploring the possibility (of taking Shinsei private),” Kitao said. “We plan to discuss this matter with the Financial Services Agency (regulator).”
Shinsei Bank, with a market capitalisation of close to 500 billion yen, still owes the government the 350 billion yen ($3.09 billion) in public money it received during a banking crisis two decades ago.
As a result, the government still owns about 20% of Shinsei. In order for it to recoup the full amount lent by selling shares on the market, Shinsei stock would need to go up to around 7,500 yen. Shinsei shares jumped over 7% to 1,929 yen early on Wednesday.
($1 = 114.0900 yen)
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