Hanwha's Acquisition Of Bank Nobu Has Not Been Submitted To OJK

OJK (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Hanwha Life, which is an insurance company from South Korea, acquired 40 percent of Bank Nobu's shares from the Lippo Group, according to a report by The Korea Times. The signing of the agreement between the two parties was held on May 3, 2024 in Jakarta.

Bank Nobu's acquisition aims to expand Hanwha's financial portfolio in the Southeast Asian market. Earlier last year, Hanwha Life had also acquired Lippo General Insurance's majority stake.

In response to this, the Chief Executive of Banking Supervision of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Dian Ediana Rae conveyed that the authorities have not yet received a written submission on the planned acquisition of PT Bank Nationalnobu Tbk (Bank Nobu) by Hanwha Life Insurance Co., Ltd (Hanwha Life Korea).

"OJK has not yet received a written submission of the intended acquisition plan," said Dian in Jakarta, Saturday.

It should be noted, continued Dian, that the acquisition or takeover process will take a short time because potential investors need to obtain OJK approval first as POJK No.41 / POJK.03 / 2019 concerning the Merger of the Takeover of Integration and General Bank Conversion (POJK P3IK).

To obtain OJK approval, this step begins with the preliminary stage, namely to conduct a fit and proper test of prospective controlling shareholders (PSP) as the party that will take over the bank, including licensing and implementation of the takeover as stipulated in POJK No.27/POJK.03/2016 concerning Assessment of Compliance and Capability for the Main Financial Services Institution (POJK PKK) and POJK P3IK.

"In this regard, OJK communicates things that Bank Nobu management needs to follow up on regarding OJK's policy of changing commercial bank ownership which changes the controlling shareholder of the Bank," said Dian.

The news about the acquisition of Bank Nobu by Hanwha Life began in the middle of the merger process between Bank Nobu and MNC Bank. The news of the merger between Bank Nobu and MNC Bank has also been circulating since early 2023. Bank Nobu and MNC Bank have submitted a planned merger to OJK.

When asked by the media whether Hanwha Life's acquisition was included in Bank Nobu's planned merger with MNC Bank, Dian said that the plan was a separate corporate action from the bank consolidation plan between the Lippo Group and the MNC Group.

In January, Dian also conveyed that the merger process of Bank Nobu and MNC Bank still took a long time, considering the tough merger process because the two entities were part of a large conglomerate ecosystem.