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JAKARTA. Information has it that Mayapada Group is eyeing the shares of PT Bank Permata Tbk (BNLI), which is a joint venture of Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) and Astra International Group.
Chairman of Mayapada Group Dato Sri Tahir claimed to have started buying up BNLI’s shares since November 2016. However, Tahir did not reveal the number, as well as the price of the shares.
However, Tahir stated that Bank Permata share price is below the fair price. "BNLI Shares are now trading below their valuation of 2.5-3.5 times book value," said Tahir. He sees that the bank still has bright prospects.
Tahir said that Mayapada Group is considering negotiating with Stanchart to buy up BNLI shares. If it is agreed, it is not impossible that Bank Permata may be merged with PT Bank Mayapada Internasional Tbk (MAYA). “The merger may recover Bank Permata’s valuation,” Tahir said.
Aside of Stanchart, another shareholder of Bank Permata is PT Astra International Tbk. This company owns 44.56% of stake in BNLI. The portion is equal with Stanchart’s ownership in the bank. Meanwhile, public investors with a stake less than 5% comprise 10.88% of BNLI’s shareholders.
In the last year, Mayapada Group sold a part of stake in Bank Mayapada to Taiwan’s financial entity Cathay Life Insurance Co Ltd. Recently, Cathay is the controlling shareholder in Bank Mayapada with 40% of stake in MAYA, while PT Mayapada Karunia controls 26.42% of stake.
Cathay’s penetration is part of Mayapada Group’s strategy to expand Bank Mayapada capital to be upgraded to the category of Commercial Banks Group of Business Activities III with the amount of capital of between Rp 5 trillion to Rp 30 trillion.
Independent Commissioner of Bank Permata Tony A. Prasetiantono said, he has not heard about Mayapada Group’s plan to penetrate to Bank Permata. "As far as I know, Standard Chartered still has strong commitment by increasing capital adequacy ratio (CAR) up to above 19%," he said, Sunday (15/1).
Meanwhile, Financial Director of Standard Chartered Bank Lea Kusumawijaya refused to make comment related to this matter. “I’m sorry, I have no comment,” Lea said.
Previously, information has it that BNI was planning to penetrate to Bank Permata. The management of BNI had once said to have early discussion with Stanchart. However, BNI later denied the information.
As information, as of September 2016 Bank Permata suffered as much as Rp 1.23 trillion losses. During the same period in 2015, the bank still recorded as much as Rp 938.19 billion profits. (Muhammad Farid/Translator)
