Hong Leong Fin scouts for acquisitions

Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, the Malaysian banking and insurance group controlled by billionaire Quek Leng Chan, is seeking acquisitions in emerging markets as it aims to triple its assets and profits in five years.

The group, which has a 20 per cent stake in China’s Bank of Chengdu Co and a banking license in Vietnam, is looking for targets in countries including Thailand and Indonesia, Chief Executive Officer Raymond Choong, 55, said in an interview yesterday. The Kuala Lumpur-based firm may also buy brokerages in Malaysia, he said.

“The global market is now a borderless world,” Choong said. “Being very successful in Malaysia doesn’t make you an important player. China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are markets with high potential where we excel.”

Hong Leong is expanding abroad as competition increases in its domestic market with the central bank granting more licences to international lenders including Bank of China Ltd. Its banking unit, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, completed a US$1.7 billion takeover of domestic rival EON Capital Bhd in May, enabling it to overtake RHB Capital Bhd as the nation’s fourth-biggest bank.

Hong Leong Financial shares have climbed 52 per cent this year, and Hong Leong Bank rose 49 per cent, making them the biggest gainers on the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index.

Failed Merger

Quek, 70, is Malaysia’s fourth-richest man with a net worth of US$4.8 billion, according to a Forbes magazine calculation as of March. The billionaire, who inherited part of his fortune from his father, also controls Hong Kong-listed investment company Guoco Group Ltd and has stakes in hotels and property across Southeast Asia, Forbes said on its website.

Malayan Banking Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, the nation’s two largest lenders, scrapped competing talks to acquire Kuala Lumpur-based RHB Capital Bhd last month after Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments PJSC paid an 11 per cent premium for a 25 per cent stake in the nation’s fifth-biggest lender.

Maybank, as the nation’s largest lender is know, owns bank stakes in Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam, and this year acquired Kim Eng Holdings Ltd, a Singapore securities and investment-banking group.

RHB said on June 23 it will focus on its own growth strategies after the merger negotiations collapsed. -- Bloomberg