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Bangkok Bank Acquires Indonesia’s Permata Bank for $2.3b

Bangkok Bank Acquires Indonesia’s Permata Bank for $2.3b
Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Katadata | Permata Bank

Bangkok Bank, Thailand’s third-largest lender by assets, acquired an 89.12% stake in Indonesia’s PT Bank Permata for about $2.7 billion after securing an approval from Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority, or OJK., in the first major overseas acquisition for a Thai bank, Reuters reported.

Standard Chartered and Indonesian conglomerate PT Astra International jointly controlled Permata, each owning 44.56% in the bank that operates about 330 branches across 62 cities in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.  

Asia-focused lender StanChart said in a separate statement that it would receive about $1.3 billion from the divestment of its Permata stake, which, it said, was an important part of the bank’s “capital optimization” plans.

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 (12/12/19). Image: Antara/Hama
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 (12/12/19). Image: Antara/Hama

 

"We welcome Bangkok Bank as the new controlling shareholder in PermataBank," Bank Permata President Director Ridha D.M. Wirakusumah said in a statement received by Jakarta Globe on Wednesday, referring to the Jakarta-based lender by its trading name. 

The acquisition is a milestone for the Bangkok-based bank which has been in operation in Indonesia since 1968 with three branches in Jakarta, Medan and Surabaya.

“We believe Bangkok Bank will provide the best support for us in becoming a stronger player in the Indonesian banking landscape,” said Ridha.

Chartsiri Sophonpanich, president of Bangkok Bank. Image: The National Thailand
Chartsiri Sophonpanich, president of Bangkok Bank. Image: The National Thailand

He said Bank Permata would continue to grow its retail, wholesale and shariah businesses and expand its distribution network and digital banking. 

“[Bank] Permata will give Bangkok Bank a stronger presence in Southeast Asia’s two largest economies, reinforcing our position as a leading ASEAN bank,” Bangkok Bank president director Chartsiri Sophonpanich said in the statement to The Jakarta Post.

He added that the bank would support Bank Permata to grow its retail, small and medium enterprise (SME) and corporate businesses, while also enhancing its customers’ access to growth opportunities in Indonesia.  

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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