Mizuho Targets LatAm Borrowers for Yen Loans (1)

Mizuho is looking to take LatAm corporates and financial borrowers to the Japanese syndicated loan market. The idea is to match increasing appetite from Japanese lenders for foreign names with borrowers’ need for funding sources and diversification. So-called Ninja loans are the bank market equivalent of Samurai bonds issued by foreigners in the Japanese market. “We are currently introducing the product to our clients in Latin America, following a number of arrangements of Ninja loans for clients in the US,” David Costa head of international finance for the Americas at Mizuho, tells LatinFinance. Mizuho has executed Ninja loans for Lehman and Morgan Stanley in Japan in the past year. In LatAm, it has participated in structured trade financings for Pemex, Telmex and Usiminas in the last 12 months. Loan sizes in Japan can range from JPY10bn to 50bn, similar to Samurai bonds. They can be denominated in dollars as well as Yen, and carry simpler documentation than bonds, according to Mizuho.