Malaysian buys RI brokerage

Malaysian buys RI brokerage

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's largest brokerage, Rashid Hussain Bhd., has bought an 85-percent stake in the Indonesian stockbroker PT Seruni Tunggal, amid rising local interest in Indonesia's financial sector, officials said yesterday.

Rashid Hussain's wholly-owned subsidiary, RHB Capital (Jersey) Ltd., bought the stake from Singapore's Partners Worldwide and Associates Pte. Ltd. for Rp 1.748 million (about US$800,000), the Malaysian firm told the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

Indonesian-based PT Sekarbuana Kerasi holds the remaining 15 percent of Seruni Tunggal, which is a member of the Jakarta Stock Exchange, Surabaya Stock Exchange and the parallel or over-the- counter market.

Rashid Hussain is listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

On Monday, another securities firm, Arab-Malaysia Holdings Sdn. Bhd. acquired a 60-percent stake in PT Multidana Sekurindo, a stockbroking firm in Indonesia, through an injection of Rp 6.6 billion ($3 million) in fresh funds.

Multidana, incorporated in 1989 and now a member of the Jakarta Stock Exchange, was previously wholly-owned by a former senior executive director of the Dharmala Group who now owns 20 percent in the firm.

Another 20 percent stake in Multidana had been acquired by Libra Capital Asia Ltd. of Hong Kong through an injection of about Rp 2 billion in fresh capital.

With the takeover, Multidana's name will be changed to PT AMMB Securities to represent Arab-Malaysia Securities' majority participation.

In June last year, a Malaysian firm, Waterfront group, headed by Chua Mah Yu, a former partner in Rashid Hussain, had linked up with Indonesia's PT Paramount Securities to form Waterfront Securities Indonesia.

Waterfront bought an 85 percent interest in Waterfront Securities Indonesia.

The linkages were formed following a bilateral pact singed in January last year for more cooperation in the banking and financial services sector.