CIMB acquires additional stake in Indonesian unit

Malaysian lender CIMB is raising its stake in Indonesia's Bank CIMB Niaga to better capitalise on the southeast Asian nation's fast-growing economy.

Malaysia's second-biggest lender said on Friday it will purchase 17.1 percent of CIMB Niaga from Khazanah Nasional Bhd for 1.7 billion ringgit ($533.6 million), confirming what analysts and a source familiar with the plan earlier told Reuters.

Khazanah, Malaysia's state investment agency, has the option of selling another 2.57 percent in Indonesia's fifth-largest bank to CIMB for 254 million ringgit ($79.56 million), it said.

CIMB will issue new shares to Khazanah priced at 14.50 ringgit ($4.54) each for the deal to bring its total stake in CIMB Niaga to 97.93 percent.

Khazanah currently has a 28 percent stake in CIMB.

"The deal increases our exposure to Indonesia," CIMB's chief executive officer Nazir Razak said in a statement. "We expect it to be earnings per share accretive."

View the full story in Reuters.