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SYDNEY - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said on Friday it has agreed to pay A$383 million ($448 million) for a 13.5 per cent stake in AMMB Holdings Berhad , Malaysia's fifth-biggest bank, accelerating its Asian growth.
Australia's third-biggest lender paid a near 26 per cent premium for the stake over AMMB's last traded price of 2.99 ringgit, valuing it at 7.96 billion ringgit ($3.31 billion).
ANZ said its total stake in AMMB could rise to 20-25 per cent if talks with strategic shareholder AmcorpGroup Berhad conclude successfully.
"The proposed partnership with AMMB would be a significant step in ANZ's Asian growth strategy," ANZ Senior Managing Director Bob Edgar said.
"We have made satisfactory progress toward completing a strategic alliance since receiving approval for talks from Bank Negara Malaysia on Tuesday and we expect that we will complete our discussions in the next two weeks," he added.
Malaysia has a 30 per cent cap on foreign ownership of local banks.
This week ANZ bought a 19.9 per cent stake in China's Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank for US$252 million ($381 million), following a three-year relationship with the bank.
Last year it bought a similar size stake in Tianjin City Commercial Bank in northern China. It also owns interests ranging between 10 per cent and 85 per cent in banks in Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam.
ANZ shares closed at A$28.25 on Thursday, having raced to a record high of A$30.21 earlier this month on the back of a strong earnings and upbeat forecasts.
- REUTERS
