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