RHB Capital agrees to acquire OSK for $625.9M

RHB Capital Bhd has signed a deal to acquire OSK Investment Bank Bhd for RM1.977 billion or US$625.9 million in cash and stocks.

Under the conditional share purchase agreement, OSK Holdings will sell its 100 per cent interest in the bank inexchange for 245 million new RHB Capital shares at RM7.36 per share and cash of RM147.5 million.

The deal makes it the largest investment bank by assets in Malaysia.

RHB will also jump one spot to become Malaysia’s fourth-largest bank by assets. RHB hopes the acquisition will help it try to break the dominant position CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. and Maybank Investment Bank Bhd., part of Malayan Banking Bhd., have in Malaysian and Southeast Asian investment banking.

The transaction is expected to complete in the fourth quarter this year upon both shareholders' and regulatory approvals in all markets where OSK Investment operates in.

"This combination will transform RHB Investment Bank into Malaysia's largest investment bank by assets," said RHB Capital Group Managing Director Kellee Kam.

The deal also marks RHB’s entrance into Indonesia, Hong Kong and Cambodia, and will strengthen its positions in
Singapore and Thailand.

The deal is the latest in a drive by Southeast Asian banks to boost their regional footprints. Last month, CIMB, Malaysia’s second-largest bank by assets, bought a majority-stake in the Philippines’ Bank of Commerce.

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