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.