United Overseas buys 30% of Buana

United Overseas buys 30% of Buana

JAKARTA: United Overseas Bank Ltd., Singapore's second-largest bank, said it had bought an additional 30 percent of PT Bank Buana Indonesia for Rp 1.65 trillion (US$169 million).

United Overseas on Wednesday signed an agreement to buy 1.73 billion shares from PT Sari Dasa Karsa, raising its stake in Jakarta-based Buana to 53 percent, the Singapore lender said in a statement published in Bisnis Indonesia newspaper on Thursday. After completing the purchase, United Overseas will also bid for the rest of the shares in Buana under Indonesian law, it said.

Competition from overseas banks, which have been given more access to Singapore's four million people, is forcing United Overseas Bank and its rivals to boost their offshore business. Since 1999, Singapore has allowed overseas lenders such as HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc to open more branches and off-site automated cash machines.

United Overseas last year paid Sari Dasa Karsa, a holding company, S$196 million (US$119 million) for a 23 percent stake in Buana. The Singapore lender also controls Thailand's Bank of Asia Pcl and UOB Radanasin Pcl. -- Bloomberg