The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ said has acquired a 72.01% stake in Bank of Ayudhya of Thailand for 536 billion yen (167.9 billion baht) and turned the bank into a subsidiary to expand its operations in the country and other Southeast Asian economies. After integrating the Japanese bank’s local outlets with Bank of Ayudhya within a year, the shareholding in the Thai bank is expected be raised to 76.44%, said the core banking unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. The Japanese bank will dispatch executives to form the majority on the Thai bank’s board. With the acquisition, the largest for the Japanese bank by value, the bank aims to considerably enhance its fund settlement in local currency to serve both Japanese and local firms in the Asian region. Through a tender offer, the Japanese bank bought the entire 25.33% stake in the Thai bank held by GE Capital International Holdings Corp, a unit of General Electric Co Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ paid 39 baht per share. The Ratanarak Group, which holds around a 25% stake, will remain a major shareholder of the Thai bank.