Business

Monday October 19, 2009

RHB Bank said to buy Medan bank for RM1bil

By YAP LENG KUEN


PETALING JAYA: RHB Bank Bhd is believed to be buying almost the entire Medan-based PT Bank Mestika Dharma for over RM1bil.

Mestika is a profitable bank with 50 branches.

In a signing ceremony probably to be held today, RHB is expected to explain its rationale for targeting Medan, the third largest city in Indonesia.

Analysts reckoned that RHB, which already has a stockbroking presence in Vietnam, would not want to compete in Jakarta where all the big names in banking are congregated.

Medan is Indonesia’s third most populous after Jakarta and Surabaya, with about 2.5 million people.

StarBiz had reported in an interview with Tan Sri Azlan Zainol, chief executive officer of the Employees Provident Fund (RHB Capital Bhd’s major shareholder) that a bigger game could emerge in the future that may see the RHB group playing a larger role than many of its local rivals.

The key drivers of its ambitious plan, the EPF and another shareholder, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), share a common vision to turn RHB Cap into a South-East Asian banking group in just over a decade.

ADCB, with its deep pockets, is expected to play a major role to bankroll that expansion.

Both ADCB and RHB are confident of their strategy to position RHB Cap in South-East Asia. But some serious work is needed, and acquisitions or partnerships are the way to go.

“To do that, we have to discuss with other banking groups in South-East Asia. Mergers, going forward (are possible), as there is no point for us to be a big fish in a small pond. RHB Cap should be a small fish in a bigger pond,’’ Azlan had told StarBiz.


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