Is Maybank now taking huge hit from BII acquisition?

MP claims losses could reach US$787 million.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua claims Maybank Berhad has incurred losses amounting to billions of ringgit since its record acquisition of Bank International Indonesia in 2008.

Maybank acquired BII in 2008 for US$2.6 billion or Rp455 (US$143) per share and was criticized at the time for paying over four times the asset value of BII.

Pua alleges Maybank had “quietly” disposed of 5.1 billion ordinary shares to a third party investor on June 20 at Rp355 (US$111) per share, 21.9% lower than the acquisition cost.

“This 9% (of the issued and paid-up share capital) stake sale will immediately translate to an estimated realized loss of RM157 million (US$49 million). And if these loss is extrapolated, Maybank could be looking at a potential loss of RM1.74 billion (US$547 million),” Pua said.

He also said that Maybank was staring at a staggering paper losses of RM2.5 billion (US$787 million) as a result of the acquisition when BII shares closed at Rp315 or a 30.7% drop from the acquisition price as of last week.

Pua urged Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who is also Finance Minister, to personally look into this matter.