Singapore-based DBS Bank is considering an acquisition of Indonesia’s Bank Permata, according to media reports. DBS is actively working with an advisor to bid for Permata.
In 2016, Permata was the tenth biggest bank in Indonesia by assets. Currently, it has a market value of $2.4 billion. In addition to DBS, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC Bank) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group are also interested in acquiring Permata.
In March, Indonesia’s Bank Mandiri was working with Morgan Stanley to takeover Permata in a $2 billion deal. Ministry of State owned Enterprises had approved Mandiri to acquire Permata shares to increase return on equity (RoE).
Standard Chartered and Astra International each own a 45 percent stake in Permata.
DBS chief executive officer Piyush Gupta, told the media that, “In addition to a fundamentally digital presence, we are beginning to figure you need some points of presence for the time being to create brand credibility and to service the last mile.”
This would be DBS’ second attempt to acquire a bank in Indonesia. In 2013, DBS pulled the plug on a 6.5 billion acquisition deal with Bank Danamon owing to regulatory issues. Change in foreign ownership rules forced the bank to pull out from the deal.
After that, DBS has been keen to expand its presence through digital services—and is open to acquisitions that match its strategy. In the first half of the year, Permata reported net income of 711.4 billion rupiah, compared to 288.8 billion rupiah from the previous year.