Abu Dhabi's largest Islamic bank in talks to buy US$1.1 billion stake in Indonesian lender
Abu Dhabi’s largest Islamic bank is in talks to buy a minority stake valued at around US$1.1 billion in Indonesia’s top Islamic lender, Bank Syariah Indonesia, sources said, with an aim to tap into a fast-growing market for such services in South-east Asia.
The potential acquisition of a 15 per cent stake in Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) from Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) is one of the options that Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) is considering, said the two sources.
The sources, who have knowledge of the matter, declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
ADIB declined to comment. BRI did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
“What we can say is that the information above is in the domain of our shareholders,” state-owned BSI’s corporate secretary Gunawan Hartoyo said in a statement in response to Reuters’ queries.
Discussions and deliberations are in the early stages and there is no guarantee a deal will be finalised, said the sources.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Asean Business
Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies.
South-east Asia, a region of 11 countries with more than half a billion people, is a fast-growing market for Islamic banking services. Indonesia, the region’s biggest economy, has one of the world’s biggest Muslim populations.
Indonesia’s sharia financial assets were worth US$163 billion in July last year, up 13 per cent from the same period a year earlier, according to the Islamic Finance Development Report published by Indonesia’s financial services authority (OJK) last year. REUTERS
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Banking & Finance
Canada's economic growth misses estimates, boosting chances of rate cut
Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ attracts strong demand for 2-part bond issue
Hong Kong vies with US in Bitcoin ETF market
PayPal lifts 2024 profit forecast as spending stays resilient, margins improve
OCBC should be seen as ‘financial conglomerate’ unlike local banking peers, says chairman
HSBC CEO to retire; bank reports 1.7% lower Q1 profit of US$10.8 billion