[ N E W S R E V I E W | M & A ]
State Street has entered into an agreement to acquire Mizuho’ s global custody and related businesses outside of Japan, adding a combined $ 600 billion of assets under custody and administration to its ranks. Mizuho currently operates its global custody and related business outside of Japan through its local subsidiaries in Luxembourg and the US. Both of these entities represent combined assets under custody of approximately $ 580 billion and $ 24 billion in assets under administration. After this transaction, Mizuho will leverage its expertise and network as one of Japan’ s largest financial institutions to continue providing Japanese clients with trust and custody services for their domestic assets and will collaborate with State Street for global custody and related services. The acquisition marks State Street’ s first foray into the custody M & A market since its failed takeover attempt of Brown Brothers Harriman’ s Investor Services business at the end of 2022. It also represents a rare acquisition in the global custody space.“ Japan, Luxembourg and the United States are all important markets to State Street. This transaction demonstrates our strong commitment to further accelerating our growth in these markets,” said Stefan Gmür, head of Asia Pacific and head of Strategic Business Growth at State Street.“ Mizuho’ s decision to entrust State Street with their valued clients affirms their confidence in our high-quality client service, industry-leading capabilities and commitment to product innovation and technology investment. With 35 years of experience on the ground in both Japan and Luxembourg, and our long history
State Street agrees deal to acquire Mizuho Group’ s global custody business
Deal will see State Street add over $ 600 billion of assets across Luxembourg and the US, as Mizuho turns focus to domestic custody.
in the US, State Street is well positioned to support Mizuho clients’ global growth and business transformation.” The transaction is expected to be completed by Q4 2025, subject to the regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.“ In today’ s increasingly complex investment landscape, clients require global custody providers with significant scale and expertise,” said Tsutomu Yamamoto, senior executive officer, head of global transaction banking unit at Mizuho.“ After careful consideration, we have decided to transfer our global custody business to State Street, a recognised leader with a long-established presence in Japan. This strategic move will ensure our clients benefit from State Street’ s global platform and deep expertise.” State Street established its business in Japan more than 35 years ago and has a team of more than 500 employees in the country, split between locations in Tokyo and Fukuoka. The move will continue to bolster State Street’ s assets under custody and administration( AUC / A) which has been steadily rising in recent years. The custodian sits second in AUC / A league table behind rival BNY, and while the $ 600 billion won’ t cover the gap, State Street has certainly been improving its numbers in recent years through organic growth.
20 Global Custodian Spring 2025