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)