BI needs 30 days to check out Commerce Asset

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Bank Indonesia said on Friday that the central bank needed 30 days at the most to screen Commerce Asset Holding Berhad to see whether the Malaysian financial firm was fit to acquire the publicly-listed Bank Niaga.

Senior deputy governor Anwar Nasution said that Bank Indonesia was still waiting for the necessary documents from the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to start the screening process.

The documents include Commerce Asset Holding's business plan for Bank Niaga.

IBRA named Commerce Asset Holding late on Thursday as the final bidder for the government's 51 percent stake in Bank Niaga. The announcement appears to mark the end of months of negotiations over the sale of the medium-sized bank, which was previously delayed due to the low bids received.

Commerce Asset Holding offered Rp 1.057 trillion (around US$120 million) for the stake, which translates to Rp 26.5 per share. IBRA's floor price was set at Rp 24.84 per share.

The final announcement of the winning bidder for the Bank Niaga stake should be made in October.

"They have produced a good business plan and shown commitment to developing the bank. They've also made a good offer," IBRA chairman Syafruddin Temenggung said.

Other investors, including the ANZ Panin consortium, Bank Victoria and the Batavia Fund, had previously expressed serious interest in purchasing the Bank Niaga stake.

IBRA once owned 97 percent of the bank, which it took over at the height of the late 1990s financial crisis, but since then has been selling small stakes through the stock market, thus helping to drive the price lower.