Credit Agricole to up stake in Japan's Resona

Credit Agricole SA (CAGR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) will pay $570 million to lift its stake in Japan's Resona Holdings (8308.T: Quote, Profile, Research) to nearly 4 percent, as the French bank looks to build up its presence in the world's second-largest economy.

Credit Agricole, which has been working with Resona since 2002, will buy 50 billion yen ($570 million) worth of Resona's common shares from the government on Friday, the Japanese bank said in a statement.

That will take Credit Agricole's stake in Japan's fourth- largest bank to just under 4 percent, from about 1 percent now, Resona said.

Nearly half of Resona's shares are held by the Deposit Insurance Corporation, a government-backed institution, following a public bailout.

Credit Agricole will pay 148,000 yen per Resona share, the stock's closing price on Thursday.

The government originally paid 17.5 billion yen for the shares, Resona said, meaning it is likely to make 32.5 billion yen on the sale.

Resona shares finished up 6.5 percent before the announcement, outperforming a 4.2 percent rise in Tokyo's banking index. (Reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

From http://uk.reuters.com/article/bankingfinancial-SP/idUKT25686420081218