Japan's Mizuho to invest in U.S. Evercore Partners

TOKYO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Mizuho Financial Group , Japan's second-largest bank by assets, said it would invest $120 million in U.S. boutique investment bank Evercore Partners , marking the latest push by a Japanese financial firm into the world's largest economy.

Mizuho said in a statement it had agreed to buy $120 million worth of convertible bonds in the U.S. bank.

If converted to common stock, the bonds would give the Japanese bank a 14.7 percent stake in Evercore in terms of voting rights, Mizuho said.

Mizuho Securities, the Japanese bank's brokerage arm, has had an alliance with Evercore since 2006, but the new agreement will extend cooperation to M&A advisory services, Mizuho said.

The two firms will "propose and advise on North America/Japan cross-border transactions", Mizuho said. (Reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Michael Watson)