StanChart affiliates, OCBC eye Bank Muamalat

A Standard Chartered plc affiliate, Qatar Islamic Bank SAQ and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp are among bidders
for a controlling stake in PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia.

PT Bank Permata, an Indonesian lender 45%-owned by Standard Chartered, also plan to bid for the stake.

Shareholders of Bank Muamalat planned to sell more than 50% of the lender in a deal that might value it at as much as US$600million.

Second round bids were due in mid-June.

Bank Muamalat has almost 400 offices in Indonesia and a branch in Malaysia. The lender plans to quadruple its holdings of Shariah-compliant debt this year, Chief Financial Officer Hendiarto said in a February interview. The company had about 20.4 trillion rupiah of assets as of December and targets asset growth of 50 percent this year, according to Hendiarto, who goes by one name.