(9 October 2012 – Thailand) Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya PCL has Singapore’s largest bank and one of Malaysia’s largest universal banks eyeing up shares in Thailand’s fifth-largest lender.Singapore’s Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and Malaysia’s CIMB Group are considering bidding for General Electric’s US$1.6 billion (A$1.57 billion) stake in Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya, according to industry sources.
OCBC and CIMB have signed non-disclosure agreements that allow them to examine in closer detail the accounts of Bank of Ayudhya, of which GE Finance has a 25 percent stake in.
GE sold 7.6 percent of Bank of Ayudhya to institutional investors last month and said at the time that it was reviewing strategic options for its remaining holding.
The company ‘continues to review strategic options for its remaining interest … and cannot comment on market speculation’, the company said in the weekend.
Bank of Ayudhya provides banking, consumer finance, investment, asset management and other financial products and services to individual customers, SMEs, and large corporations through its branches and service outlets. It was founded in 1945.