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.