Indonesian Bukopin Bank Offer Shares To Malaysia's Affin Bank Bhd

JAKARTA, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- Indonesian public-listed finance company, Bank Bukopin, has offered its syariah unit, Bank Syariah Bukopin, to several foreign investors, including Malaysia's Affin Bank Bhd. The Jakarta Post quoted Bank Bukopin President Director, Glen Glenardi, as saying earlier this week that the firm, as the parent company of the syariah bank, was still communicating with Affin Bank in relation to the technicalities of the share divestment. "We are still communicating. We have planned it since last year. Affin Bank intended to buy the majority of the shares, around 60 per cent, but the regulations in Indonesia do not allow it. We can only divest about 40 per cent," he said, as quoted by the English newspaper on Saturday. Both lenders must go through tight scrutiny by the regulators before finalising the transaction due to the bank's vital role in the financial market. Glen said both parties must also worked on technical problems, such as different business perceptions. "There are still many technical problems that have not been finalised yet between Bank Bukopin and Affin Bank. It's still early in the process," he said. Bank Bukopin, previously known as Bank Swansarindo Internasional, was set up in 1990 in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, before being acquired by the country's second-largest Islamic organisation, Muhammadiyah, in 2001 and rebranded PT Bank Persyarikatan Indonesia. Later in 2008, Bank Bukopin injected capital into the bank and again rebranded it as Syariah Bukopin. Currently it operates 12 branches and is planning to open new branches in Pekanbaru, Riau, and Denpasar, Bali. Affin Bank is a wholly-owned unit of Affin Holdings Bhd which is listed on Bursa Malaysia. The bank commenced operations in January 2001 following a merger between the former Perwira Affin Bank Bhd and BSN Commercial (M) Bhd in August 2000 and in June 2005, it merged with the former Affin-ACF Finance Bhd. --BERNAMA