RHB Cap, CIMB, MBSB plan to form mega Islamic bank (Update)

Mega bank in the making

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, RHB Capital and Malaysia Building Society (MBSB) have received Bank Negara Malaysia's approval to start merger talks which would result in the creation of a mega Islamic bank.

They announced in a joint statement on Thursday that under the corporate exercise, the proposal was to merge the businesses of both RHB and CIMB.

The corporate exercise included plans to create an enlarged Islamic banking franchise with MBSB.

“Following this, the three parties have entered into a 90-day exclusivity agreement to negotiate and finalise pricing, structure, and other relevant terms and conditions for a proposed merger of the three entities and the creation of a mega Islamic bank.

“The exclusivity agreement comes with an automatic extension provision upon submission to BNM on the proposal,” they said.

RHB Capital group managing director Kellee Kam: "We believe that there is inherent value and that there will be many opportunities which will arise from this proposed merger. We hope to explore this further through our discussions.”

Group chief executive of CIMB Group, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said: "There is a prima facie case for a value-creating merger between the three entities and we want to get into detailed discussions to validate it."

MBSB president and CEO Datuk Ahmad Zaini Othman, commenting on the prospects of the creation of a mega Islamic bank, said: "The opportunity to be a part of a mega Islamic bank is exciting for us and we want to take this forward."

Trading in the securities of CIMB Group, RHB Capital and MBSB shares will resume on Friday.

StarBiz reported the three banks would write to BNM to seek permission to commence a corporate exercise which will result in a mega bank that will have a market capitalisation of more than RM90bil, assuming the deal is concluded at about 1.70 to 1.75 times book value.

"The deal is likely to be done at 1.75 times book value based on CIMB's current valuation of almost 1.70 times book. It is unlikely to be transacted at anything less," said a source.

At 1.75 times book value, RHB Cap would have a market capitalisation of about RM30bil, while MBSB's total capitalisation would be about RM6.8bil.