Bank of Yokohama to Buy Kanagawa Bank

Yokohama, Feb. 3 (Jiji Press)--Bank of Yokohama, a unit of Concordia Financial Group Ltd. <7186>, said Friday that it will acquire Kanagawa Bank for 8.2 billion yen.

The two regional banks, both based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, decided the merger would create synergies as they have relatively few overlapping customers in the prefecture.

Bank of Yokohama, the fourth-largest shareholder of Kanagawa Bank with a stake of 7.76 pct, will launch a tender offer at 1,716 yen per share between Monday and April 4 to buy all remaining outstanding shares.

On Friday, Kanagawa Bank expressed its support for the tender offer.

The banks have no plans to consolidate their branches or scrap the Kanagawa Bank name.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]