Niaga deal to be settled next week

Niaga deal to be settled next week

Malaysian firm Commerce Asset-Holding Bhd. (CAHB) will settle
the payment of a 51 percent stake in PT Bank Niaga next week,
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman Syafruddin
Temenggung said Tuesday.

"We expect to receive Rp 1.05 trillion (about US$114 million)
next week," Syafruddin told legislators during a hearing with the
House of Representatives' Commission IX on financial affairs.

IBRA signed a sale and purchase agreement with CAHB for the
stake on Friday.

Bank Niaga is Indonesia's ninth largest bank with assets
exceeding $2.7 billion as of June 30. It has 144 branches and 186
automated teller machines.

After the payment is completed, the new owner will place four
appointees on Bank Niaga's board, while the government will have
three, Syafruddin added.

CAHB is the second largest banking group in Malaysia with
market capitalization of more than $2.2 billion and total group
assets of $21 billion.

The company earlier said it would focus on expanding Niaga's
business, while promising no lay-offs.

It said its entrance into the Indonesian market was part of a
wider strategy to invest in "long term growth in the ASEAN
market". -- JP