Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 11:40, Reuters, Jakarta
Bukopin focuses on small and micro-businesses, including cooperatives and groups of farmers. (BLOOMBERG)
PT Bank Bukopin, a mid-sized Indonesian lender, is in talks with several potential local and foreign investors to sell a majority or significant minority stake in the bank, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
"A Qatari investor has come and intends to become a majority shareholder," Bukopin CEO Glen Glenardi told Reuters in an interview. "We have also a major local bank that is looking to buy a 20 per cent stake."
Glenardi said he thought Bukopin should be valued at around 1,000 rupiah a share, or equal to 2 or 3 times book value. This is less than some deals for Indonesian lenders in recent years at over 4 times book value that came as investors bet on strong loan growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
Bukopin currently trades at 590 rupiah a share, or 1.1 times price to book value, with a $511 million market capitalisation, according to Thomson Reuters' Starmine.
Bukopin, established in 1970, focuses on small and micro-businesses, including cooperatives and groups of farmers, fishermen and traders.
Indonesia is currently the only emerging market in Asia with almost no ownership limits on banks, with a central bank proposal to impose limits on hold. It is one of Asia's most fragmented banking markets, with about 2,000 lenders, including commercial and rural credit banks.
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