Bank Internasional Rises as Parent Gets Extension on Stake Sale

PT Bank Internasional Indonesia rose to the highest level in more than 10 years after parent company Malayan Banking Bhd. obtained a six-month extension to sell a stake in the unit, delaying the sale of a large block of shares. 

Bank Internasional rose 25 percent to 1,010 at the 4 p.m. local-time close, the highest since April 2000. Maybank, as the parent company is known, is now required to sell the shares within six months to meet a government rule, Ahmad Fuad Rahmany, chairman of Indonesia’s capital market regulator, said today. The Malaysian bank was initially required to pare down its stake this year after its 2008 acquisition. 

“The question is at what price will the shares be sold,” said Danny Eugene, an analyst at PT Mega Capital Indonesia. “People are speculating Maybank will sell at a high price.” 

Maybank owns 95 percent of Bank Internasional after buying the majority stake from Temasek Holdings Pte and Kookmin Bank, which also triggered a takeover offer. Indonesia’s acquisition rules require Maybank to sell part of the stake back to the market if it ended up with more than 80 percent of the company. 

Shares of Bank Internasional more than tripled this year, compared with a 49 percent gain in the Jakarta Composite index.Source: Bloomberg