Mirae Asset Securities is set to enter the Japanese stock trading market for the first time by acquiring Sanko Securities, a subsidiary of the Okasan Securities Group. This move comes as foreign financial firms are increasingly expanding into Japan amid a booming stock market.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on October 29, Mirae Asset plans to acquire all issued shares of Sanko Securities through its intermediate holding company in the United States. The transaction is expected to be valued at up to approximately 5 billion yen (about $42.5 million). The acquisition plan will be announced following approval from both companies' boards, with the deal anticipated to be finalized by March 2027, the end of the 2026 fiscal year.
Park Hyun-joo, Chairman and Global Strategist of Mirae Asset Group, had previously indicated during a special lecture at Kyung Hee University's Seoul campus on October 27 that an announcement regarding the M&A with a Japanese securities firm would be made on the 29th.
Sanko Securities specializes in proprietary trading, which involves trading stocks and other securities using the firm's own capital. As of March 2026, Sanko Securities reported a net profit of 48 million yen and total net assets of 4.6 billion yen, including its retail financial operations.
With this acquisition, Mirae Asset Securities is expected to retain the existing workforce at Sanko Securities while expanding its proprietary trading operations in Japan. The firm will also secure the necessary local registration qualifications to conduct trading and acquisition activities.
Plans for further collaboration with the Okasan Securities Group are also in the works. According to Nikkei, this includes selling Mirae Asset Group's U.S. subsidiary Global X's exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to Okasan Securities' clients. There is potential for expanding cooperation with other regional securities firms using Okasan Securities' trading platform.
Nikkei reported that this transaction reflects a renewed interest from foreign securities firms in Japan's recently thriving market. Given the challenges faced by small and medium-sized Japanese securities firms due to management succession issues and an aging customer base, there is a possibility that more firms will follow Mirae Asset's approach to enter the Japanese market.
Previously, among South Korean securities firms, Daewoo Securities, a predecessor of Mirae Asset, and Samsung Securities had entered and exited the Japanese market multiple times.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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