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MUFG Seeks Stake In Indian Finance Company

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MUFG Seeks Stake In Indian Finance Company

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan’s largest bank by assets and market cap, is close to buying a 20% minority stake in India’s Shriram Finance Limited (SFL), for an investment of $4.4 billion.

SFL is one of the largest non-banking financial companies (NBFC), with assets under management totalling approximately $31 billion.

The negotiations are ongoing, and the agreement is not yet confirmed. The price and stake size could change, the agreement may be delayed, or even fall apart in the coming days.

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Shriram’s shares rose nearly 50% this year on India’s National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange, giving a market value of around $18 billion, marking its fifth straight year of positive returns.

The reasons for the rally were: SFL’s strong fundamentals; the Reserve Bank of India’s easing for NBFCs; India’s rising Gross Domestic Product, which is increasing demand for SFL’s core lending segments; SFL’s final 150% dividend payout; and the proposed agreement with MUFG.

MUFG is not the first bank to propose a stake in an Indian bank. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), Japan’s second-largest bank, acquired a 20% stake in Yes Bank for $1.6 billion in May 2025, via secondary purchases from the State Bank of India and other banks. SMFG later became the single largest shareholder, acquiring a 24.2% stake in Yes Bank. It has already deployed almost $5 billion and is seeking to expand lending operations and increase employee strength.

Yet another Japanese financial group, Mizuho Securities, a unit of Mizuho Financial Group, is set to acquire a majority stake in Indian investment bank Avendus from KKR for up to $523 million in December 2025. This move will make Avendus a consolidated subsidiary of the Japanese financial group.

Some of the factors that attracted Japanese investors were India’s economic growth projected to grow at 6.5% in 2026, outpacing Japan’s stagnant domestic market, a 1.4 billion consumer base, low banking penetration, Reserve Bank of India’s robust regulatory reforms, eased foreign investment norms, and strong Japan-India collaboration in infrastructure projects like the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.

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Since announcing its deal with Shriram, MUFG has reportedly seen increased interest from automakers looking to boost sales through preferential financing. Should the acquisition close, MUFG plans to have staff in Tokyo and Singapore to develop and execute these deals.

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Why This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Is Gaining Attention From Institutional Investors | The Motley Fool

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Why This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Is Gaining Attention From Institutional Investors | The Motley Fool

Alphabet is a favorite among a few hedge fund billionaires.

One artificial intelligence (AI) stock that has gained the interest of a lot of institutional investors lately is Alphabet (GOOGL 0.05%) (GOOG 0.02%). The stock was a top-three holding in the funds of several prominent hedge fund billionaires at the end of Q3, including Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital, Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global Management, and Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management.

Alphabet has returned to its role as an AI leader

It’s easy to see why these billionaires have been drawn to Alphabet’s stock. The stock was very cheap at the start of 2025, as some investors fretted that AI would pressure the company’s core Google search business. Those fears, however, proved to be overblown, and Alphabet has flipped the script to be viewed as one of the best-positioned AI companies moving forward.

Image source: Getty Images.

Alphabet’s strength lies in the fact that it has the most complete AI stack. This starts with its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), which are custom AI chips it developed over a decade ago and have been tightly integrated into its ecosystem and improved upon over the years. While other companies are trying to catch up in the custom AI chip race, Alphabet’s TPUs are battle-tested and highly regarded, giving it a structural cost advantage when it comes to running AI workloads. It has even begun to let customers begin to deploy its chips through its Google Cloud cloud computing business, creating another revenue stream.

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At the same time, Alphabet has trained its world-class Gemini large language model (LLM) on its chips. Gemini is now considered one of the world’s best AI models, and Alphabet has infused its capabilities throughout its products. In addition to its stand-alone app, which has been gaining market share, it’s also helping drive growth in Google Search through newer AI-powered features, such as AI Overviews, Lens, and Circle to Search. Perhaps the biggest game changer, though, is AI Mode, which lets users easily toggle between traditional search and an AI chatbot without having to switch apps.

Alphabet Stock Quote

Today’s Change

(-0.05%) $-0.16

Current Price

$338.09

Meanwhile, Alphabet’s distribution and ad network advantages remain. Through its ownership of the Chrome browser and Android smartphone operating system, along with a search revenue-sharing deal with Apple, the company is the gateway to the internet for most people. Meanwhile, its massive ad network can help it easily monetize both search and AI chatbot users.

Is Alphabet stock still a buy?

While not the bargain it was a year ago, Alphabet’s stock is still reasonably valued, trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 25.5 times 2026 analyst estimates. Given that its AI tech stack advantages should just grow with time, the stock is still a buy at current levels.

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Letter: Educate leaders, too, on finance and humanities | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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Letter: Educate leaders, too, on finance and humanities | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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SB Financial Group Q4 Earnings Call Highlights

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SB Financial Group Q4 Earnings Call Highlights
SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) management said fourth quarter and full-year 2025 results reflected continued execution across the franchise, with CEO Mark Klein calling it “one of the strongest earnings quarters and year in our history” despite ongoing pressure on mortgage activity across the indu
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