Following the recent opening of its 130th branch in Malaysia, banking group EON Capital has made a last-minute bid for the takeover of RHB Group, the Business Times has reported.
The Islamic banking firm is competing against a Kuwaiti lender, after Utama Banking Group (UBG) confirmed that it would start exclusive talks to sell its stake in RHB to Kuwait Finance House (KFH).
As part of the proposed deal between UBG and KFH, KFH will acquire UBG’s 32% stake in RHB Group for a total purchase price of RM2.16 billion. However, according to the Daily Times, EON Capital offered RHB Group RM1.8 for each RHB Group share, as well as RM8.75 billion for the assets of RHB Capital, the country’s fourth largest lender.
If successful in its bid, EON Capital would emerge as the country’s third largest lender in terms of total assets.
According to the Daily Times, all parties must reach an agreement on the terms of the proposed purchase by February 16, 2007.