SARAWAKIANS are seemingly applauding the vision and mission of the state’s Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg (Abang Jo) after news broke out that the Sarawak state government in on the verge of acquiring a majority stake in Affin Bank Bhd – as soon as this week.
“Affin is (at) cheaper ends among the established physical bank to take over. Smart move,” reckoned corporate savvy anaesthesiology and critical care specialist Dr Abdul Jabbar Ismail in response to a mainstream Berita Harian social media post on entitled “Sarawak to Announce Affin Bank Takeover This Week”.
Sarawak umum pengambilalihan Affin Bank minggu depan#BHNasional Bank Negara beri kelulusan selepas beberapa siri rundingan dijalankanhttps://t.co/aPwtk6PSmW
— Berita Harian (@bharianmy) September 21, 2024
“(The bank’s) current market value is RM6.9 bil. Take-over cost is probably at RM7.4 bil equity to PE 20x.”
As it is, the Sarawak state government already owned 4.8% of Affin Bank with the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) owning 28.8%, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) 5.2% and Amanah Saham. Bumiputera (ASB) 0.34%.
“They just need to spend 61% of RM7.4 bil to privatise the bank since there’s no real need to buy over federal government ownership. The real issue is to buy out the BEA (Bank of East Asia Ltd) block of 23.9%,” contended Dr Jabbar who is attached to the Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s (UMS) Medical and Health Science Faculty.
“Unless the rest of 37.1% (of stake holders) agreed on the takeover, then only is it possible to buy the BEA block provided the MTO (mandatory takeover offer) is attractive enough to them.”
Many other commenters heaped praises at Abang Jo for his foresight in taking Sarawak to greater heights by leveraging political stability in the state.
The brilliance of the 74-year-old GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) chairman who has been helming Sarawak since Jan 13, 2017 is also evident from his innovating the use of algae-based sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as an alternative to jet fuel, according to one commenter.
“After this, (Abang Jo) can contemplate buying an airline. This’ll make it easier for Sarawakians to return to their hometowns while facilitating people from the Peninsula to travel to Sarawak,’ attested another commenter.
For context, Abang Jo had stated that all matters related to acquiring the largest stake in Affin Bank as well as the requirements set by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) concerning the acquisition have been resolved.
“We are looking to take over the bank soon. Everything is ready. BNM has also approved it. Just listen out for our announcement in the next week,” he remarked while speaking at the 100th anniversary celebration of Rumah Samu, a longhouse in Ulu Paku, Betong, which is some 260km from Kuching on Saturday (Sept 21).
Whatever said and done, Abang Jo has his fair share of doubters to his ambitious plan of resurrecting the glorious days of Bank Utama, Hock Hua Bank and Kwong Lee Ban – all of which were swallowed by anchor banks from Peninsular Malayasia following the forced bank merger exercise unveiled in July 1999. – Sept 23, 2024
