DRB-Hicom To Acquire 70 Percent Shares In Bank Muamalat

KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 (Bernama) -DRB-Hicom Bhd has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Bukhary Capital Sdn Bhd (Bukhary Capital) to buy 70 percent interest in Bank Muamalat (BM) for RM1.07 billion.In a filing to the stock exchange today, the group said the acquisition would be satisfied entirely by the issuance of 548,666,666 new ordinary shares of RM1.00 each in DRB-Hicom (DRB-Hicom shares) at an issue price of RM1.95 per share."The BM purchase consideration was arrived at on a willing buyer-willing seller basis after taking into consideration the independent valuation report by Messrs Ernst & Young, the independent valuer, which values 100 percent equity interest in BM between RM1.30 billion and RM1.53 billion," DRB-Hicom said.Bukhary Capital was incorporated in Malaysia on June, 13 1995 under the Companies Act, 1965 and is principally an investment holding company.ALBUKHARY Corporation Sdn Bhd (ALBUKHARY) holds 99 percent equity interest in Bukhary Capital.Bukhary Capital had in 2004 acquired 90,338,400 BM shares (equivalent to a 40 percent stake in BM) from Khazanah for RM206.8 million and acquired 67,753,800 BM shares (equivalent to a 30 percent stake in BM) from Commerce Assets Holdings Bhd for RM155.10 million."The proposed BM acquisition would result in a change in the controlling shareholder of DRB-Hicom as Bukhary Capital would hold 35.26 percent equity interest in DRB-Hicom," DRB-Hicom said.The group also said that the proposed BM acquisition would lead to DRB-Hicoms participation in the Islamic banking sector and will strategically provide them with a source of income arising from BMs presence in the Islamic banking industry."The said acquisition is timely as DRB-Hicom can capitalise on the growth potential of the local and global Islamic banking sector and enable the group to have a significant presence in the domestic Islamic banking industry via BM," it said.It also said that the proposed BM acquisition is also subject to the approval of the Minister of Finance through Bank Negara Malaysia, of which conditional approval was obtained on April 21, 2008.The applications to the relevant authorities are expected to be submitted by the second quarter this year, DRB-Hicom said.The group said barring unforeseen circumstances, the proposed BM acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter this year.