J Trust Selected as Successful Bidder for Indonesia's Bank M

Bareksa.com - Japan's J Trust Co Ltd said it has been selected as a bidder for Indonesia's PT Bank Mutiara Tbk and will be allowed to have full ownership of the Indonesian bank.

Bank Mutiara, previously known as Bank Century, was bailed out by the Indonesian government in 2008 and has been run by the Indonesian Deposit Insurance Corporation locally known as Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan (LPS).

"The company submitted a letter of interest to acquire LPS' Interest in Bank Mutiara and today, LPS disclosed that the company was selected as the successful bidder," J Trust said in a statement dated Friday.

"The transaction is exempt from the 40 percent cap on foreign ownership of commercial banks and LPS has the right to sell all of LPS' interest in Bank Mutiara to the company under this exemption," the company added.

J Trust said it needed the approval of the Indonesian financial services authority to become a major shareholder in Bank Mutiara.

The sale is a rare opportunity to own 100 percent of a bank in Indonesia, where foreign ownership of banks is currently capped at 40 percent.

The Hong Kong arm of Bank of China and Malaysia's Hong Leong Bank are among the bidders previously shortlisted to buy Bank Mutiara, people with knowledge of the bidding process told Reuters in May.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia also qualified to bid, its finance director Achmad Baiquni has said.

Bank Mutiara has a total asset value of around 13 trillion rupiah ($1.10 billion). (Source : Reuters)