S&P: Lippo Bank unaffected

Standard & Poor's said its ratings and outlook on PT Lippo Bank Tbk (B+/stable/B) will remain unchanged following the announcement that Khazanah Nasional Bhd.'s proposed plans to merge Bank Lippo with PT Bank Niaga Tbk to comply with Bank Indonesia's Single Presence Policy.

Khazanah currently has an indirect equity interest of about 93% in Bank Lippo through Santubong Investments BV and Creatville Pte. Ltd. and an indirect equity interest of about 64% in Bank Niaga through Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Berhad (BBB-/stable/A-3), the agency said.

While S&P said it expects the proposed merger to create a bank with stronger market position and competitiveness in the Indonesian banking sector with significant potential synergies, Khazanah has yet to decide in favor of this option.

S&P said it will continue to monitor the progress closely and could change the rating or outlook on Bank Lippo positively if the merger is found viable by Khazanah and is likely to be endorsed by the relevant authorities.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.