KL brokerage buys stake in Bank Niaga
KL brokerage buys stake in Bank Niaga
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's top brokerage Rashid Hussain Bhd (RHB) yesterday said it was buying a 20 percent stake in Indonesia's Bank Niaga and raising its stake to 63 percent in local brokerage Straits Asset Holdings Sdn Bhd.
RHB said in a statement to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange that it had signed an agreement to acquire the 20 percent stake in Bank Niaga for Rp 234.47 million (US$98.8 million).
It is acquiring a total of 37.82 million shares at Rp 6,200 per share of Bank Niaga, which was established in Indonesia in September 1955 and is listed on the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges.
The Indonesian commercial bank has a network of 41 branches, a branch in the Cayman Islands and an agency office in Los Angeles.
RHB said the acquisition of the Bank Niaga stake, to be funded by internal funds, would enable it to develop and make significant business inroads into the Indonesian market.
RHB also announced it was acquiring from four vendors a further 12 percent stake in Straits Asset Holdings for 33.494 million ringgit ($13.4 million), to increase its equity stake in the brokerage to 63 percent.
RHB already holds a controlling 51 percent stake in Straits Asset, which owns Straits Securites Sdn Bhd, a broking company in southwestern Malacca state.
It is acquiring the additional 12 percent stake from vendors S.R. Doshi, Tan Tian Tiok, Lee Siow Keng and Ismail Harith Merican.
RHB said under an internal restructuring within its group, its 51 percent stake would be acquired by its investment company, DCB Holdings Bhd.
It said in line with the restructuring, RHB group had offered the 20 percent equity stake in Bank Niaga and the 12 additional stake in Straits Asset to DCB Holdings at the same purchase price plus holding and related costs to be satisfied by the issue of new DCB shares to RHB at 8.11 ringgit a DCB share.
RHB stock closed 40 sen higher on the local bourse yesterday at 18.90 ringgit, while DCB Holdings stock rose 15 sen to 9.15 ringgit.