OCBC mulls bid for control of Indonesia's Bank Permata

Jakarta

OCBC Bank is weighing a bid for a controlling stake in PT Bank Permata, an Indonesian lender backed by Standard Chartered, according to sources. They said OCBC is considering an offer for almost 90 per cent of the US$1.9 billion bank. Singapore's second-largest lender is interested in buying the stakes held by Standard Chartered and PT Astra International, they said. The London-based bank and the Jakarta-listed conglomerate each own about 44.6 per cent of Permata, Bloomberg data show.

Standard Chartered said in February that its Permata investment is no longer considered core, signalling that it may be getting ready to sell the stake. It also named Indonesia among four countries where the bank is focused on reducing costs and engineering a long-awaited turnaround.