Bank Halim may be bought out by ICBC of mainland China.

A number of reports, from Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal, and, Market Watch marketwatch, have spoken of the apparent interest shown by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China’s largest lender, in the small Surabaya, East Java based Bank Halim Indonesia.

Bank Halim, a privately held concern with assets of $56.5 million, is seemingly seen as an ideal first foreign acquisition for ICBC, which weighs in at $800 billion in asset value. If the deal goes through it would mark the first time a mainland Chinese bank has ventured outside of greater China.

The Wall Street Journal says that Indonesian regulators are unlikely to have objections to the purchase while Dow Jones Newswires reports that ICBC is currently doing due diligence on Bank Halim.

They are currently still negotiating the size and the value of the stake to be transacted.

an Indonesian central bank official was quoted as saying. The official also reportedly said Bank Halim had informed the central bank of Indonesia earlier in 2006 that it was planning a deal with ICBC. ICBC has been looking to expand into South-east Asia for some time, and the Bank Halim acquisition has been in process already for two years, the Journal said.

12th December 2006

The Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI), Siti Ch. Fadjrijah, says that Bank Halim’s shares were bought by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) some time ago, as seen in the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA). Previously Bank Halim had been owned by Rahman Halim, the owner of tobacco giant PT Gudang Garam Tbk. wartaekonomi