Nazir: Merger between CIMB and Maybank not on the table
The Edge Daily - 27 Mar 2008
The speculated merger between CIMB Bank Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) is “not on the table”, BumiputraCommerce Holdings Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Nazir Razak said. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Invest Malaysia 2008 conference here yesterday, he said: “The merger is not on the table. It’s speculation.” However, Nazir did not rule out the possibility that a merger between the two banking groups might happen in the future. He added that he was “happy” that both CIMB and Maybank now have presence in Indonesia, and said regional expansion would enable these banks to gain economies of scale. Maybank, had yesterday, proposed to acquire a 55.7% stake in PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk (BII) from Singapore’s Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited for about RM4.8 billion. Commenting on Korea-based Woori Bank’s interest in acquiring stakes in Malaysian banks, Nazir said: “If they have the interests, they can come and talk to us.” He added that he was uncertain whether Bank of Yingkou would be listed on the Chinese bourse, as CIMB merely held a 20% stake in the bank, despite already emerging as the Chinese bank’s major shareholder. Meanwhile, Nazir said Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) gross domestic product forecast of between 5%-6% this year was within CIMB’s expectations. He added that CIMB’s loan growth of 12% was in tandem with BNM’s forecast. However, he did not reveal CIMB’s loan growth target for financial year 2008. On mitigating risks of lower loan growths in CIMB due to the uncertainties in the global market, Nazir said the bank had taken precautionary measures by strengthening its capital and liquidity position. He said: “We are tightening our belts and doing more stress-testing, which is the normal practice for active management of business in an uncertain environment.”