Maybank targets 20% stake in An Binh Bank

ABBank's selling of 5% of its stake to Maybank makes it on equal footing with HSBC.

An Binh Bank would sell another five percent to the Malaysian bank this month for $19.3 million, according to a bank statement as reported in The Daily Times.

If the deal materializes, Maybank would complete the 20 percent maximum limit of stakes allowed by the government to be owned by a foreign partner in a Vietnamese bank. It would also be on par with HSBC Holdings, which also has the same percentage of ownership in Hanoi-based Techcombank.

Partly private ABBank said in the statement the sale, involving the issue of more than 17.8 million new shares, would raise its registered capital by 22 percent to 3.48 trillion dong ($188 million) between Dec 20 and 30.