Moody's casts doubt over OCBC's Wing Hang plan

MOODY'S Investors Service has raised some doubts over the proposed bid by OCBC Bank to acquire Wing Hang Bank, suggesting that the premium pegged to the Hong Kong lender may be too high.

OCBC has kept mum on its actual bid, though its interest was announced earlier this month. Analysts are expecting OCBC to pay about two times of Wing Hang's book value.

"We don't see what their strategy is," said Stephen Long, Moody's managing director for the financial institutions group in Asia, at a press briefing yesterday.