Malaysia's Maybank to acquire 20 pct of Pakistan's MCB

Malaysia's leading bank Maybank said on Monday it is planning to buy 20 percent of Pakistan's MCB Bank as it seeks to boost its regional operations.

Maybank said in a filing to the stock exchange that it will pay 2.17 billion ringgit (672.7 million dollars) for a 15 percent stake in MCB Bank.

It said it had entered into a separate deal which will allow it to eventually own up to 20 percent of the Karachi-listed MCB, the fourth-largest bank in Pakistan by assets.

MCB operates 1,026 branches, including eight Islamic banking branches within Pakistan and six outside the country.

"The proposed acquisition will enable Maybank to further expand its regional presence in key growth markets," Maybank said in the statement.

"The proposed acquisition will provide the group with the opportunity to position itself in a high-growth and under-penetrated banking market with a large population."

Maybank, the fourth-largest company on the Malaysian bourse by market value, has embarked on an aggressive overseas expansion drive.

It has said that Indonesia, Pakistan and Thailand are the three "must-have" markets in its efforts to transform itself into a regional entity.

However, Maybank has faced criticism that it is paying too much for its recent acquisition of stakes in Vietnamese and Indonesian banks.

Last month, it surprised investors when it said it would pay a hefty 4.8 billion ringgit for a 56 percent stake in Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII), Indonesia's sixth-largest bank.

Prior to the BII deal, it bought a 15 percent stake in Vietnam's An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank for about 430 million ringgit.

Malaysian banks have been actively exploring investment opportunities overseas in recent years as they face rising competition and slowing growth at home amid the central bank's moves to open up the domestic banking industry.

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