Thailand’s Krungsri completes SB Finance buy-in deal

Lender Security Bank Corp. has completed a deal to sell 50 percent of its consumer finance unit, SB Finance (SBF) Co., to Bank of Ayudhya, thus forming what’s expected to be a formidable consumer banking partnership with Thailand’s fifth largest financial group.

Bank of Ayudha, commonly known as Krungsri, is a member of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) network, which is also a strategic investor in Security Bank.

“The closing of this transaction comes at a very opportune time. This strategic partnership with Bank of Ayudhya will help rebuild consumer confidence and enhance financial inclusion at this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are confident that by leveraging on Krungsri’s strength in the ASEAN retail finance market and in consumer risk management, we can contribute meaningfully to the economic recovery of the Philippines,” Security Bank president and chief executive officer Sanjiv Vohra said in a press statement on Tuesday.

The partnership deal with Krungsri, first announced in August last year, was consummated after the parties obtained all the necessary regulatory approvals in the Philippines and Thailand.

With this partnership in the consumer finance business, these banking groups aim to make a “customer-centric” digital lending experience available to all Filipinos and small business owners. This is also seen to strengthen the relationship between the two institutions which both have MUFG as a common shareholder.