UOB to complete buying Buana in May

JAKARTA: United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB), Singapore's second largest bank, may complete its plan to buy a 23 percent stake in Bank Buana, Indonesia's 11th largest bank in terms of assets, in May after conducting a due diligence on the bank.

Buana director Pardi Kendy said that UOB was currently in the process of auditing the bank before wrapping up the purchase agreement.

"We hope that the purchase can be concluded next month," said Pardi after attending the bank's general shareholders meeting on Friday.

UOB earlier said that it had allocated around Rp 774 billion (US$91 million) to buy the shares from PT Sari Dasa Karsa, a holding company which owns 62 percent of Buana.

As of December last year, Buana has total assets of Rp 14.3 trillion and a net income of Rp 222 billion. The return on equity and on assets stood at 17.0 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 1997, out of the 15 largest banks in Indonesia, only a few banks managed to survive without a government bailout and Bank Buana is one of them. -- JP