Shiga Bank and Senshu Ikeda Holdings signed a basic agreement on October 29, 2026 to work toward a management integration. Under the plan, Senshu Ikeda Holdings would be renamed and become the parent, and Shiga Bank would become its wholly owned subsidiary through a share exchange. The target date is April 1, 2028.
A holding company on the Senshu Ikeda side
Both boards resolved on the same day to pursue the deal. The arrangement assumes approval at each company's shareholders' meeting and the necessary regulatory permissions. Shiga Bank would sit under the new holding company alongside Senshu Ikeda Holdings' existing bank subsidiary. Shiga Bank's ordinary shares are expected to be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange before the share exchange takes effect.
The two banks are not to merge. They would keep their names and head offices, and the release says no merger of the two banks is planned. The release also says the structure could change as talks continue, so the April 2028 date is a target, not a completed transaction.
The stake purchase
On the same day, Shiga Bank's board approved buying 30,523,100 Senshu Ikeda Holdings shares from Ariake Master Fund, a Cayman Islands investment vehicle, for about ¥36.6bn. The purchase is set to settle on October 30. Shiga Bank already held 2,331,500 shares, or 0.84% of voting rights. After settlement it would hold 32,854,600 shares, or 11.81%.
Shiga Bank's notice says the purchase counts as a "mass accumulation" treated like a tender offer under Article 167 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, which is why it was announced separately. It describes the aim as strengthening ties and raising corporate value ahead of the integration, and says the effect on its current-year consolidated results is minor.
Senshu Ikeda Holdings separately said the purchase would make Shiga Bank its largest shareholder. It also said Ariake Master Fund had already become its largest shareholder on October 28, when it switched shares bought on margin into cash holdings. Senshu Ikeda Holdings put the fund's holding at 30,523,100 shares, or 10.97% of voting rights, after that switch. It said it could not confirm the beneficial ownership figures and that its ranking and percentages are estimates.
Timetable and open terms
The schedule runs to a final agreement in April 2027, extraordinary shareholders' meetings at both companies in December 2027, and the share exchange on April 1, 2028. The dates could move depending on regulatory approvals, including a registration statement on Form F-4 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that Senshu Ikeda Holdings plans to file.
The exchange ratio is undecided. It will be set before the final agreement, after due diligence and valuations by third-party appraisers each bank appoints. The new holding company's name, head office, representative and board are also left to the final agreement. The banks said they would set up an integration preparation committee promptly. Both expect the effect on results for the year to March 2027 to be minor.
The release gives combined simple-sum totals before consolidation adjustments: total assets of ¥14.26tn and a market value of about ¥1.03tn as of September 30. The banks say these are not a forecast of the merged group.