TOKYO: Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc is nearing an agreement to buy a majority stake in Fullerton India Credit Co for about 220 billion yen (US$2bil or RM8.31bil), people familiar with the matter said, in what would be the first entry into the South Asian country’s retail financial business by a Japanese bank.

       Japan’s second-largest lender is in advanced talks with Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte to acquire a 75% stake in the Indian business, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. An announcement could come as soon as today, the people said. Sumitomo Mitsui is considering to acquire the rest of the Indian credit firm at a later stage, they added.

       Fullerton Financial is a unit of Singapore’s state investment fund Temasek Holdings Pte.

       An announcement could still be delayed, the people said. Representatives for Sumitomo Mitsui declined to comment, while a representative for Fullerton Financial didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

       Faced with weak growth prospects at home, Sumitomo Mitsui has been allocating resources to Asia’s emerging markets in recent years. The bank took control of Indonesian lender PT Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional in 2019 after acquiring a minority stake earlier.

       Sumitomo Mitsui is looking for targets in Vietnam, Philippines and India, chief executive officer Jun Ohta said in an interview in December.

       Sumitomo Mitsui in April agreed to buy a 49% stake in Vietnamese consumer lender FE Credit. Last month, the bank said it will buy a 4.99% stake in Rizal Commercial Banking Corp of the Philippines for 4.48 billion pesos (US$91mil or RM378mil). — Bloomberg