Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) expects to make a proposal on its proposed merger with RHB Capital Bhd (RHBCap) by the end of June, its president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said.
The country’s biggest lender has been in discussions with all major shareholders of RHBCap on its takeover bid.
Maybank and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd are making separate takeover bids for RHBCap, the country’s fifith largest banking group.
Speaking to reporters after Maybank’s EGM today, Wahid said the banking group has already engaged with RHBCap’s biggest stakeholders — the Employees Provident Fund and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) — and is waiting for further details from them.
Over the weekend, ADCB announced its plans to sell its stake in RHBCap to Abu Dhabi investment fund Aabar.
Asked whether it would be a share swap or outright cash purchase, Wahid said Maybank is looking at a merger proposition.
According to him, the basic proposition is a merger of the two entities, and it will involve a share swap.
"These are early days, there is still a lot of work to be done," he added.
On the risk of the group overpaying, Wahid said it will be disciplined in its approach and will only embark on the acquisition if it creates value.
Maybank chairman Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor said the merger proposition has to be "earnings accretive" and able to drive the performance of the banking group in the region, which is "a lot more competitive" today.
"If we get RHB, it will give us scale, make us bigger and we can do other things. For example, RHB has licences in Thailand, branches in Singapore which we could use to expand our reach in Singapore, and talents that will be of interest to us.
"We need people, we are short of talents. By pooling our talents and using each other’s systems, we will be able to respond to the market much faster," he added.
Megat Zaharuddin also said the group will ensure that it makes the best proposal on the takeover by the end of this month.
