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Hopes high for Bank Permata after acquisition by Bangkok Bank
The majority of Bank Permata shares are currently owned by British financial giant Standard Chartered and Indonesian diversified conglomerate PT Astra International.
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Signed and sold: Bangkok Bank president Chartsiri Sophonpanich (second right), Astra International president director Prijono Sugiarto (second left), Standard Chartered corporate development group head David Churchman (right) and Astra vice president director Djony Bunarto Tjondro sign conditional sale and purchase agreements on Bangkok Bank’s acquisition of 89.12 percent of Bank Permata’s shares from Astra and Standard Chartered in Jakarta on Thursday. (Antara/Hama)
H
opes are high for publicly listed Bank Permata after it was revealed that a majority stake in the lender is to be acquired by Thailand-based Bangkok Bank, effectively putting an end to wild rumors about the acquisition since early this year.
Bangkok Bank announced on Thursday that it had agreed to buy 89.1 percent of the private bank’s shares for around US$2.67 billion as part of its overseas expansion.
The majority of Bank Permata shares are currently owned by British financial giant Standard Chartered and Indonesian diversified conglomerate PT Astra International, with each owning 44.56 percent of the bank, which operates about 330 branches in 62 cities across Indonesia.
Finance consulting company Koneksi Kapital Indonesia's head of research, Alfred Nainggolan, said Bank Permata would be looking for a spot in the BUKU IV category, which includes banks whose core capital exceeds Rp 30 trillion (US$2.14 billion).
“This is because they will have more capital funds through this acquisition as Bangkok Bank also operates in the banking industry while Astra does not," Alfred told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Friday.
Read also: Bangkok Bank to acquire Bank Permata from Astra, Standard Chartered for $2.67b
Alfred, however, said competition in Indonesia's banking industry was fierce, warning investors that the acquisition at 1.77 times book value was a premium price and thus would not automatically boost the bank's share price as it would eventually depend on its financial performance.
