Buana mulls acquisitions, mergers

JAKARTA: Publicly listed Bank Buana Indonesia said on Wednesday it was mulling acquisitions or mergers to enable it to expand business operations and meet the capital requirement set recently by Bank Indonesia.

"Acquisitions will be made to provide value added to Buana, whether they be banks or finance companies, as long as they have strong financial footing," the bank president Jimmy Kurniawan Laihad said.

The plan forms part of the bank's consolidation move to meet Bank Indonesia's requirements outlined under the Indonesia's Banking Architecture (API), which requires a national bank to have at least Rp 10 trillion in capital within the next 10 years.

Jimmy said that the bank's capital stood at Rp 2.1 trillion, including Rp 500 billion of subordinated bonds the bank recently issued. -- JP