Barclays arm to link with Niaga Securities

Barclays arm to link with Niaga Securities

JAKARTA (JP): BZW, an investment banking arm of Barclays Bank Plc. of Britain, will acquire a stake in Niaga Securities, a subsidiary of Bank Niaga, under an agreement to be signed here on Tuesday.

Niaga Securities said in a statement yesterday that after the acquisition, the company will become a joint venture, with 60 percent of its shares held by BZW and 40 percent by Bank Niaga.

"Subject to approval from the regulatory authorities, the joint venture will be called PT BZW Niaga Securities," the statement said.

It said that the agreement, which will be signed by the group chairman of Barclays Bank, Andrew Buxton, will transform the role of BZW in Indonesia from providing technical assistance to Niaga Securities to being a fully fledged joint venture partner.

BZW, through Niaga Securities and offshore financing units, has raised over US$4.5 billion for Indonesian clients in international debt and equity markets since 1991.

Its services and products cover all aspects of equity, debt, derivatives and corporate finance. But it has a particularly strong track record in privatization, one example being the bank's role as global coordinator for the this years' share issuance worth $210 million of the state-owned PT Tambang Timah.

With the imminent completion of its acquisition of Wells Fargo/Nikko fund management business, BZW is also set to become the second largest fund manager worldwide with $270 billion under its management.

Employing 7,400 people worldwide, it generates annual profits over 200 million pounds ($300 million) from 3,500 offices in 75 countries. In the Asia-Pacific alone, it has more than 1,600 employees in 16 cities.

Its holding company, Barclays Bank, is the largest commercial bank in Britain with $16 billion in capital resources.

Its partner, Bank Niaga, with an asset of nearly Rp 5 trillion ($2.18 billion) as of December 1994, is the 14th largest bank in Indonesia. (13)