MUFG to buy out UnionBanCal for $3bn
Mitsubishi UFJ Group (MUFG) on Tuesday offered $3bn to buy the remaining 35 per cent in Union Bank of California it does not already own, in a move aimed at giving Japan’s largest lender a greater presence in the US.
MUFG is offering shareholders $63 per share, or an 8 per cent premium over UNBC’s closing price on Monday and a 24.5 per cent premium on the bank’s average closing price over the last four weeks. UNBC is a commercial bank with 300 branches across the state of California.
The Japanese bank said it had proposed an offer of $58 a share in April this year but failed to reach an agreement with a special committee set up by the US bank to negotiate on behalf of minority shareholders. MUFG said that it remained “open to negotiations with the Special Committee”.