Foreign banks eye BII, Lippo: IBRA

Foreign banks eye BII, Lippo: IBRA

Dow Jones, Jakarta

A slew of Asian and European banks are keen on buying a stake in Indonesia's PT Lippo Bank and PT Bank Internasional Indonesia, according to a document seen by Dow Jones.

The document from Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency, or IBRA, to parliament said DBS Bank, a unit of Singapore's DBS Group Holdings, U.K.-based Standard Chartered Plc. and Malaysia's Malayan Banking Bhd are eying Lippo Bank and BII.

Other banks cited in the document were Malaysia's RHB Capital Bhd, China's Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Hong Kong- based Bank Of East Asia Ltd., South Korea's Kookmin Bank, ABN Amro Holding N.V. of the Netherlands, France's BNP Paribas S.A, Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp. and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

IBRA hopes to sell its entire 52 percent stake in Lippo Bank in October and a 71 percent stake in Bank Internasional in November. The government has a 93.7 percent stake in Bank Internasional.

The proceeds from the sale of the stakes will be used to cover the government's 2003 budget deficit which is expected to reach Rp 34.4 trillion.

Separately, IBRA's chairman Syafruddin Temenggung told reporters Monday that some foreign banks in Asia and Europe have expressed an interest in buying a stake in Lippo Bank and Internasional Indonesia.

He refused to name the banks, but added they are from the U.K., Germany, France, the Netherlands, China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.