NST Online Business Times : latest
NST Online Business Times : latest |
| Hong Leong Fin scouts for acquisitions Posted: 07 Jul 2011 05:38 PM PDT Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, the Malaysian banking and insurance group controlled by billionaire Quek Leng Chan, is seeking acquisitions in emerging markets as it aims to triple its assets and profits in five years. The group, which has a 20 per cent stake in China's Bank of Chengdu Co and a banking license in Vietnam, is looking for targets in countries including Thailand and Indonesia, Chief Executive Officer Raymond Choong, 55, said in an interview yesterday. The Kuala Lumpur-based firm may also buy brokerages in Malaysia, he said. "The global market is now a borderless world," Choong said. "Being very successful in Malaysia doesn't make you an important player. China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are markets with high potential where we excel." Hong Leong is expanding abroad as competition increases in its domestic market with the central bank granting more licences to international lenders including Bank of China Ltd. Its banking unit, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, completed a US$1.7 billion takeover of domestic rival EON Capital Bhd in May, enabling it to overtake RHB Capital Bhd as the nation's fourth-biggest bank.
Failed Merger Quek, 70, is Malaysia's fourth-richest man with a net worth of US$4.8 billion, according to a Forbes magazine calculation as of March. The billionaire, who inherited part of his fortune from his father, also controls Hong Kong-listed investment company Guoco Group Ltd and has stakes in hotels and property across Southeast Asia, Forbes said on its website. Malayan Banking Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, the nation's two largest lenders, scrapped competing talks to acquire Kuala Lumpur-based RHB Capital Bhd last month after Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments PJSC paid an 11 per cent premium for a 25 per cent stake in the nation's fifth-biggest lender. Maybank, as the nation's largest lender is know, owns bank stakes in Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam, and this year acquired Kim Eng Holdings Ltd, a Singapore securities and investment-banking group. RHB said on June 23 it will focus on its own growth strategies after the merger negotiations collapsed. -- Bloomberg |
| YTL Power rises on Marubeni deal Posted: 07 Jul 2011 06:25 PM PDT YTL Power International Bhd rose the most in two weeks after saying Japan's Marubeni Corp will invest US$228 million in YTL Jawa Power Holdings Ltd, which owns a 35 per cent stake in a power station in Indonesia. Shares of YTL Power, parent of YTL Jawa, climbed 1.4 per cent to RM2.19 at 9:12 a.m. local time in Kuala Lumpur, set for its biggest gain since June 22. -- Bloomberg |
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