A new memorandum of understanding (MoU) states the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) Group’s and Jefferies’ intentions to combine their Japanese equities and equity capital markets businesses. The joint initiative will be operational from January 2027.
SMBC has expanded its equity ownership of Jefferies from 15% to up to 20%, maintaining a less than 5% voting interest, as the companies further their strategic alliance.
Jefferies took eighth place in Dealogic’s investment banking rankings by global revenues for the first nine months of 2025, with a 2.8% share of the market and a reported US$1.9 billion in revenues. In equity capital markets, it was in sixth place with US$315 million in revenues and a 3.2% market share.
It did not break into the top ten in APAC.
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SMBC Group is also providing the firm with approximately US$2.5 billion in credit facilities. These funds will be used for overall support and for collaborative efforts between the companies, including EMEA leveraged lending, US pre-IPO lending, and asset-backed securitisation.
The companies have also shared plans to expand their coverage of larger sponsors across EMEA.
The announcement builds on a strategic alliance initiated in 2021, designed for cooperation on corporate and investment banking business opportunities. It was expanded in 2023 to cover mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital markets, with a focus on investment grade (IG) clients in the US.
Later MoUs were signed to extend this agreement to the EMEA region, Canada, Asia and Australia, and to offer the firms’ joint coverage initiatives to larger global sponsors, pre-IPO companies and sub-IG corporate clients.
