Japan's Aozora Bank plans to take a 15 percent stake in Vietnam’s Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB) in April 2020, marking its first overseas deal since 2001.

Illustrative image (Photo: Getty Images) 

The deal is expected to be worth about 15 billion JPY (139 million USD).

If successful, Aozora will become the largest shareholder of OCB. It will send two directors to the OCB’s management board and plan to help OCB with risk management and compliance systems based on international standards.

They will work together on digital banking and investment banking services, as well as on providing support for Japanese companies seeking to expand into Vietnam.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based OCB provides retail banking services and lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, with around 130 branches across Vietnam.

The bank boasts some of the fastest growth in the industry, thanks to development in rural areas fueling a growing need for capital among construction and real estate companies.

The Japanese bank, initially called Nippon Credit Bank in 1957, changed its name to Aozora following restructuring in 2001.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Aozora has 21 domestic branches and three representative offices in New York, Shanghai and Singapore. It is now listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange with a total asset of 50 billion USD.