YANGON, MYANMAR: Yoma Strategic Holdings has announced the formation of a strategic partnership with Tokyo Century Corporation, one of the Japan’s largest leasing companies. [the_ad id=”31605″]Tokyo Century will acquire a 20 per cent stake for US$26.6 million in Yoma Fleet, a subsidiary of Yoma Strategic, by way of newly issued shares.
The additional capital and expertise provided by Tokyo Century will enable Yoma Fleet to rapidly expand its vehicle leasing business in Myanmar. Upon the satisfaction of certain conditions to complete the subscription of new shares by Tokyo Century, Yoma Strategic will become an 80 percent shareholder in Yoma Fleet.
Founded in 1969, Tokyo Century provides leasing, installment sales and other financial services across 37 countries and regions. Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Tokyo Century has a market capitalisation of approximately US$ 4.9 billion and total assets of US$35.9 billion.
Melvyn Pun, CEO, Yoma Strategic stated, “We warmly welcome Tokyo Century as our partner in Yoma Fleet. Their international expertise in non-bank financial services, in particular auto leasing, will be invaluable as we work together to expand Yoma Fleet’s business. Given Myanmar’s low vehicle penetration, we believe there is significant growth ahead for Yoma Fleet in automotive and heavy equipment leasing. The partnership will also explore other non-bank financial opportunities to better serve this huge, underserved market in Myanmar.”
Yasushi Yoshino, Senior Managing Executive Officer, Tokyo Century said, “I am very happy to announce our entry into the high potential Myanmar market with Yoma Strategic, the best partner in Myanmar. We will contribute to the further development of Myanmar’s fast-growing automotive market through the know-how and knowledge of auto leasing that Tokyo Century has cultivated in Japan and Southeast Asian countries.”
Yoma Fleet was established in early 2014 as a vehicle rental and contract hire operator providing operating lease and rental solutions predominantly to multi-national companies. In 2018, Yoma Fleet added additional product solutions for SME and retail customers and launched Yoma CarShare, a daily rental business, served by 16 branches and hubs across 11 cities.
More recently, Yoma Fleet also commenced its partnership with MSP CAT2, the exclusive distributor for Caterpillar branded machinery in Myanmar, to provide heavy equipment financing solutions for companies in the infrastructure, construction, mining and agricultural sectors.
Yoma Fleet is now one of the largest vehicle lease and rental operators in Myanmar with over 1,100 vehicles and total assets under management of over US$40 million. Yoma Fleet is targeting an asset size of more than US$200 million by FY2023.
“Yoma Fleet is part of our Yoma Financial Services business which aims to bridge the significant gap in credit in Myanmar. Despite impressive growth, traditional bank lending as a percentage of the economy is still relatively small. The economy is largely cash-based, and we see limited bank lending outside of the key cities. This creates opportunities for non-bank financial players to provide consumers and companies with a much-needed source of credit and we are keen to capitalise on this opportunity for Yoma Fleet in partnership with Tokyo Century”, added Pun.
Yoshino also commented: “Our International Business has been actively promoting strategic alliances by partnering with local leading companies. We will also explore the possibility of further collaboration in other business areas of Yoma Strategic in the coming years.”