S. Korea’s Woori to buy 33% stake in Indonesia’s Bank Saudara

Woori Bank plans to buy a 33 percent stake in a small Indonesian bank.

Woori unit Bank Woori Indonesia said it signed an acquisition agreement on June 8 to buy 764.4 million shares in Bank Himpunan Saudara, pending regulatory approval.

Bank Saudara told Reuters in late January that it planned to expand in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy by bringing in a strategic investor through a rights issue.

The stock has jumped more than 86 percent since the Jan. 25 interview. Bank Saudara, which focuses on pensioners and small businesses across the islands of Java and Bali, currently trades at Rp 530 a share, or 2.8 times price to book value, with a $139 million market capitalization, according to Thomson Reuters’ Starmine.

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