U.S. firm Blackstone Group LP as well as Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Credit Saison Co and Mitsubishi Corp are also among likely bidders, the Nikkei newspaper said on Thursday.
TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm TPG is one of the likely bidders for a stake in Japan Airlines Corp's $900 million credit card unit, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
U.S. firm Blackstone Group LP as well as Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Credit Saison Co and Mitsubishi Corp are also among likely bidders, the Nikkei newspaper said on Thursday.
Japan Airlines has been looking to sell a majority stake in its credit card unit as part of a restructuring plan, sources told Reuters in September.
JALcard ranks sixth in Japan's credit card industry and is estimated to have a market value of about 100 billion yen ($897 million). While it has a relatively small customer base, its users tend to be more affluent than those of other Japanese credit cards.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Buying a stake in the card unit would allow access to 1.9 million users, who racked up a total of 1.7 trillion yen in transactions in the year to March, or an average of around $8,000 per user.
Spokesmen for JAL, Mitusbishi UFJ and Mitsubishi Corp all declined to comment. No one was immediately available for comment at Credit Saison.
TPG would likely use the card unit stake a means to bring business to other TPG portfolio companies, the source said.
"A bid comprising TPG and potentially another bidder could provide JAL card with an attractive affinity program," the source said.
The first round of bidding will take place on Friday, the Nikkei said.
Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's largest bank, is a likely frontrunner because its subsidiary, Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos Co Ltd already offers a card together with JAL, the paper said.
($1=111.44 Yen) (Reporting by Alison Tudor, David Dolan and Taiga Uranaka, Editing by Michael Watson)
