DBJ's Maki Seeks Regional Revival Through Bank Tie-Ups and Mega Deals

Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) President Hirofumi Maki has outlined plans to revitalize regional economies through tie-ups with regional banks. Maki, 57, aims to create a mechanism where DBJ absorbs higher-risk funding, enabling regional banks to deploy capital more easily.

In an interview with Kyodo News on August 18, Maki emphasized his desire to 'create a flow of capital within the regions.' This involves promoting initiatives that introduce loan syndication opportunities from Tokyo and overseas markets to regional banks. By participating in equipment finance used for aircraft purchases and similar transactions, regional banks can acquire diverse capital supply techniques.

DBJ will also provide risk-sharing frameworks with regional banks to stimulate regional capital circulation. For sectors like energy, where investment recovery takes an extended period, this collaboration is expected to make lending decisions easier for regional banks. Maki expressed his intention to build a framework that enables DBJ to take on the higher-risk portion of funding.

In addition to revitalizing regional finance, DBJ aims to supply risk capital to large-scale mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals reaching the trillion-yen level. Maki has outlined a policy to expand the provision of equity investments and mezzanine financing, which sits between debt and equity. With its track record of supplying mezzanine financing on the scale of several hundred billion yen, DBJ is looking to surpass this target over the next five years.