OREANDA-NEWS. Aozora Bank, Ltd. announced the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited ('OCBC Bank') that will promote collaboration in the provision of cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) services to the clients of both institutions.

In recent years, Aozora's customers, including its Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) customers, have been increasingly looking to Southeast Asia for growth as part of their business development plans. This MOU with OCBC Bank, a leading financial institution in Southeast Asia, will allow Aozora to build a framework for providing higher quality cross-border M&A services to meet the needs of its customers who are aiming to expand their business into the region. These ervices will also be provided to Aozora's regional financial institution customers as necessary. Similarly, the alliance caters to the needs of OCBC Bank's corporate custom ers who are exploring inorganic growth opportunities in Japan.

As announced in 'Aozora Bank's Business Model' in February this year, the Bank's focuses include the development of transactions with SMEs and collaboration with regional financial institutions. Through the promotion of this business model, the Bank aims to earn the trust of its customers as the 'Primary Secondary Bank: Another Reliable Partner', and is committed to responding to the management challenges and needs of its customers through the enhancement of its range of services.