Aichi Financial Group and San ju San Financial Group have called off the merger they agreed to pursue four months ago. Boards at both companies resolved on September 10, 2026, to dissolve the basic agreement signed May 13, 2026, and each company withdrew in full the extraordinary report it had filed with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau describing the plan. The companies confirmed the news the same day in a joint disclosure to the Tokyo and Nagoya exchanges.
The May agreement had set out an absorption-type merger between the two Tokai-region bank holding companies, conditional on obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. The pair set up an integration preparation committee and aimed to complete the combination around April 1, 2027, with a final integration agreement due to be signed in September 2026.
That final signing never happened. Both companies say they reached differing views on the direction of the integrated holding company during preparation talks and concluded the September deadline for a final agreement was unworkable. Neither disclosure elaborates on what, specifically, the two sides disagreed about beyond the holding-company question.
The withdrawal mechanism itself is procedural. Both companies had filed their original extraordinary reports under Article 24-5, paragraph 4, of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, and both invoked Article 24-5, paragraph 5, to withdraw those May 13 filings in their entirety, rather than amend individual sections.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| May 13, 2026 | Aichi Financial Group and San ju San Financial Group sign a basic agreement to pursue an absorption-type merger, contingent on regulatory approval |
| 2026 (ongoing) | An integration preparation committee negotiates terms for a combined holding company |
| September 2026 | Date originally set for signing a final integration agreement |
| April 1, 2027 | Target date the two companies had set for completing the management integration |
| September 10, 2026 | Both boards dissolve the basic agreement; the May 13 extraordinary reports are withdrawn in full |
Both companies say the termination has no effect on their earnings. Aichi Financial Group remains listed on the Tokyo and Nagoya exchanges under ticker 7389, and San ju San Financial Group under 7322, both on the exchanges' Prime and Premier tiers. The two groups say they intend to keep cooperating on initiatives for regional economic and social contribution and customer problem-solving even without the merger.
The termination unwinds a basic agreement, not a completed merger: the companies never reached a final integration contract, so there is no closed deal to reverse. What remains open is whether either group revisits consolidation, with each other or with a different partner. Neither filing addresses that question.