Four banks announce merger plan

Four banks announce merger plan

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed Bank Mashill will merge with
Bank Jaya International, Bank Artamedia and Bank Ciputra to
strengthen their capital structure.

The medium size banks announced yesterday they had agreed in
principle to merge through a share swap, which will be based on
an adjusted equity value.

They said they were still awaiting approval from shareholders,
the Capital Market Supervisory Agency and the Ministry of Finance
to realize the merger plan, which puts Bank Mashill as the
surviving bank.

"The aim of the merger is to create a more competitive bank in
the era of globalization as well as to meet the government
requirement," the banks said in a joint statement.

Under the initial merger deal, Bank Jaya shareholders will
control 23.67 percent in the merged bank, Bank Arta 23.67
percent, Bank Ciputra 11.07 percent and Bank Mashill controlling
the remaining 41.59 percent.

The banks said stakes controlled by Bank Mashill's existing
shareholders would be proportionally diluted after the merger.

This means the stake of the main shareholder, PT Mashill Jaya
Asia, will be reduced to 15.33 percent in the new bank from 40.68
percent prior to the merger; Bank Brussels Lambert's stake will
be shaved to 8.26 percent from 18.10 percent currently; PT Putra
Kartawisejati to 3.89 percent from 10.32 percent and the public
to 12.12 percent from 30.90 percent.

Bank Mashill, which recorded a pretax profit of Rp 27 billion
last year, is currently 18.10 percent controlled by Belgian Bank
Brussels Lambert, 51 percent by the Karta Wijaya family and the
rest by the public. (aly)