Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan’s third-largest bank by market value, today opened an investment banking venture in Saudi Arabia.

Mizuho’s corporate banking unit and its Mizuho Securities Co. affiliate said the Riyadh-based operation will offer asset management services to Saudi Arabian customers and mergers and acquisition advice to Japanese firms in the nation, according to a statement filed to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Mizuho joins Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest brokerage, in starting investment-banking operations in Saudi Arabia. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have also entered the Arab state, seeking to profit from wealth created by rising oil prices.

Gains in the price of oil, which doubled to almost $80 a barrel this year, have bolstered economies in the Middle East, making the region more attractive to banks.

Nomura said in July it was starting an investment-banking business in Saudi Arabia offering corporate finance, capital markets and wealth management services.

Asia Expansion Plan

Merrill Lynch & Co., acquired by Bank of America Corp. this year, received a Saudi banking license in 2007. That same year Goldman Sachs signed a preliminary “strategic cooperation” agreement with the investment banking unit of Jeddah-based National Commercial Bank.

Mizuho Securities also aims to open branches in Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei and Malaysia to offer broking services for Japanese and Asian companies and to advise on mergers and acquisitions, President Keisuke Yokoo said at a May 7 briefing.

Mizuho is the second-ranked adviser on mergers and acquisitions involving Japanese companies this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. owns a 58 percent stake in Mizuho Securities, and Norichukin Bank and Dai- ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. are among other shareholders.

To contact the reporter on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net; Kazu Hirano in Tokyo at khirano1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 2, 2009 02:51 EST