RHB and AMMB to make major annoucement
Banks ask for share-trading to be suspended today
PETALING JAYA: RHB Bank Bhd and AMMB Holdings Bhd, which are currently exploring a merger, have separately requested for the trading of their shares to be suspended today ahead of a major announcement.
Both banks made reference to Bank Negara’s approval on June 1 this year for AMMB to commence negotiations with RHB for a possible merger of their businesses and undertakings.
All structured warrants relating to RHB and AmBank would be suspended at the same time.
RHB’s shares fell seven sen to close at RM4.88, while AMMB’s shares closed unchanged at RM4.70 yesterday.
It was earlier reported that both the lenders would submit to the authorities on whether or not to proceed with their merger by the end of this month.
The proposed merger, if it happens, will create the country’s fourth-largest banking group. Both banks had previously said that they were exploring an all-share swap deal for the merger.
AMMB’s group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Tahir was quoted as saying that the merger would provide economies of scale for both banks and give AMMB an overseas presence.
“It’s highly complementary for both parties,” he said early this month.
“In terms of fund management, when combined, we should be the largest fund manager. In Islamic banking, we would be at No. 2, just slightly below Malayan Banking Bhd.
“The merger has many benefits, given that the investments that I make will be the same, while the returns the combined entity gets is from a bigger base. Scale in banking is very important,” he added.
The two lenders have until the end of next month to discuss the merger deal on an exclusive basis.
“After August it will be non-exclusive, meaning that AMMB or RHB can talk to any other parties,” Sulaiman said.
“Even if we do not merge, we are always looking at opportunities to revisit our processes,” he added.
Based on the figures as at the end of last year, the combined assets of RHB-AMMB stood at RM368.3bil, trailing behind Public Bank Bhd’s RM389.73bil.
RHB is the fourth-largest lender, while AMMB is the sixth-largest based on asset size.