Maybank to keep seeking overseas acquisitions in Asia

Maybank to keep seeking overseas acquisitions in Asia

Chan Tien Hin, Bloomberg, Kuala Lumpur

Malayan Banking Bhd., Malaysia's top lender, will continue to seek acquisition opportunities overseas, focusing on China and countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, after losing a bid for an Indonesian bank.

Going overseas is a "major strategy," President and Chief Executive Officer Amirsham Aziz said, after a shareholders' meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

"Our radar screen is in Asean and China." There are no opportunities at this stage, he said.

U.K.-based Standard Chartered Plc. on Oct. 8 beat Malayan Banking and Commerce Asset-Holding Bhd., Malaysia's two biggest banks, and Indonesia's number 10 lender to begin talks for a 51 percent stake in PT Bank Permata, Indonesia's number seven lender.

Malayan Banking, or Maybank as it is called, and two other state-backed lenders were identified by the state investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd. as "national champions" financially strong enough to expand outside of Malaysia as the government seeks to lift returns on its investments.

Malayan Banking will not rule out opportunities to acquire a local rival, Amirsham said.

"It's a question of opportunity," he told reporters after the meeting. "We have to think about it. We don't have anything" now, he said.

Malayan Banking shares were unchanged at 11.10 ringgit as at the 12:30 p.m. local time midday trading break in Kuala Lumpur.

The lender expects loans to expand 6 percent to 8 percent in the year ending June 2005, Amirsham said.