Japanese Bank MUFG to Acquire Robo-advisor WealthNavi for $668M

Mitsubishi subsidiary MUFG Bank has announced plans to acquire WealthNavi, an automated wealth management services provider, in a deal that will solidify its control over the robo-advisor platform.

MUFG Bank issued a tender offer for a 51.46% ownership stake in WealthNavi, which oversees 1.3T yen (~$6.7B) in total AUM as of July 4, and will build on its earlier 15.55% stake acquired on March 4. The deal is valued at 99B yen (~$668M) and is expected to be settled in the first quarter of next year.

The two Japanese firms first entered into a strategic partnership in August 2020 to develop a robo-advisor for MUFG’s banking clients and have since been in talks to further enhance the joint automated fintech platform business. The Tokyo-based bank is one of 340 subsidiaries of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and houses a network of 421 branches in Japan with another 104 branches overseas.

Source: https://www.mufg.jp/dam/pressrelease/2024/pdf/news-20241129-003_en.pdf