Daiwa Bank to slash RI stake

Daiwa Bank to slash RI stake

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Daiwa Bank Ltd. said Wednesday it would reduce its stake in an Indonesian bank under its control to below 50 percent as it prepares to withdraw from overseas operations.

Daiwa is negotiating with other shareholders of PT Bank Daiwa Perdania to cut its stake in the bank from 84.95 percent now to 47.28 percent, said a spokesman who declined to be named.

"As the deadline to complete our planned withdrawal from overseas operations is the end of March, we are trying to cut investment in overseas units to below 50 percent by then," the Daiwa official said.

Daiwa's stake in Bank Daiwa Perdania will go down partly through a share sale but also as the subsidiary issues new shares and raises its capital from Rp 125 billion (US$16.8 million) to Rp 200 billion, he said.

Daiwa's shares will be sold to Indonesia's Bank NISP, which will eventually hold a 20.1 percent stake in Bank Daiwa Perdania. An unnamed new partner taking part in talks will own another 29.5 percent, the official said.

Bank Daiwa Perdania, set up in 1958, is the largest foreign- owned bank in Indonesia.