Singapore Temasek joins Kookmin in bid for BII

Singapore Temasek joins Kookmin in bid for BII

Dow Jones, Singapore

Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., the Singapore government's
domestic investment arm, Monday confirmed it will team up with
South Korea's Kookmin Bank in a bid for Bank Internasional
Indonesia (BII).

The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) is selling a
51 percent stake in nationalized BII, Indonesia's sixth-largest
bank. The stake is estimated to be worth about US$300 million
based on Friday's closing price.

"We have submitted a preliminary, non-binding bid together
with Kookmin Bank," Temasek spokeswoman Eva Ho said.

"It was done through our vehicle, Asia Financial Holdings,"
she added. Temasek said its Asia Financial Holdings and Kookmin
Bank, South Korea's largest lender, have bid for BII through the
Sorak Financial Holding consortium.

Ho declined to comment on Temasek's stake in that consortium.

Earlier this year, Temasek bought a 51 percent stake in
Indonesia's fifth-largest bank Bank Danamon, through a consortium
including Deutsche Bank AG.

Meanwhile, Singapore's No. 2 lender, United Overseas Bank Ltd.
(UOB) said on Monday it has also submitted a bid for BII. IBRA's
chairman said Friday that UOB was behind the Credit Suisse First
Boston consortium that bid for the BII stake.

"UOB has been invited by IBRA to proceed to the next stage of
the process and will conduct due diligence before deciding
whether to submit a final bid," UOB said in a statement to the
Singapore Exchange.

A third consortium, Bank Pan Indonesia (Bank Panin), has also
submitted a bid for BII.

The Indonesian government has a 93.7 percent stake in BII.