Cimb, J Trust Among Suitors For Indonesia's Bank Commonwealth: sources (updated)
31/10/2023 09:30
(Adds Bank Commonwealth's response in paragraph 5)
By Yantoultra Ngui
SINGAPORE, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Malaysian bank CIMB
CIMB.KL and Japanese finance company J Trust 8508.T are
among firms vying to buy Indonesia's PT Bank Commonwealth in a
deal that could value the lender at $400-$500 million, two
sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Bank Commonwealth, which is 99% owned by Australia's biggest
lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) CBA.AX , focuses on
retail lending as well as corporate banking services for small
and medium enterprises.
Morgan Stanley, the financial adviser on the sale, has asked
bidders to submit binding offers by early November, the sources
added, declining to be identified as the planned sale has not
been publicly disclosed.
CIMB, Malaysia's No. 2 bank, and J Trust have expressed
interest and are looking at submitting binding bids, the sources
said. Both companies have banking units in Indonesia.
Bank Commonwealth, CIMB, J Trust, CBA and Morgan Stanley
declined to comment.
The lender, which also provides wealth management services,
had total assets of 18.39 trillion rupiah ($1.1 billion) last
year, according to its annual report.
It logged a loss of more than 350.77 billion rupiah in 2022,
more than double a year earlier, the report said, citing
challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was first established in 1997 as a CBA venture with Bank
International Indonesia. CBA became its controlling shareholder
in 2002 and changed its name to Bank Commonwealth.
Interest in Bank Commonwealth comes at a time when growth in
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, is expected to slow
after accelerating at its highest rate in three quarters in the
April-June period.
M&A activity in Southeast Asia dropped 34% to a seven-year
low of $88.9 billion for the first nine months of this year with
activity for the region's financial sector sliding 66% to $9.8
billion, LSEG data shows.
Most Australian retail banks have been doing away with
non-core operations to focus on services at home.
CBA sold a 10% stake in China's Bank of Hangzhou 600926.SS
last year for about A$1.8 billion to entities controlled by the
Hangzhou municipal government.
($1 = 15,890.0 rupiah)
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Additional
reporting by Anton Bridge in Tokyo; Editing by Kane Wu and
Edwina Gibbs)
((Yantoultra.Ngui@thomsonreuters.com;))