OCBC bid for Wing Hang: A ho-hum deal

OCBC Bank CEO Samuel Tsien might do well to heed the words of his predecessor almost a decade ago when the latter gave his view on acquisitions.

David Conner had said that studies of acquisitions by academics and business schools showed that about 80 per cent of such purchases destroyed shareholder value. Mr Conner, of course, did not give much credence to the findings; he went on to acquire Indonesia's Bank Nisp in 2005 and in 2009 bought ING Asia Private Bank.

Bank Nisp was a small deal. By comparison, the purchase of ING Asia Private Bank, subsequently renamed Bank of Singapore (BOS), was touted as a transformational move for OCBC that gave the lender a decent-size private banking business. Yet it is unclear if the acquisition has translated into higher returns. (OCBC has consistently declined to disclose BOS's profitability, arguing that its rivals don't either.)