1 February 2021
HHP Law Firm acted as the merger counsel of PT Bank Syariah Mandiri, PT Bank BNI Syariah and PT Bank BRIsyariah Tbk. which effective today has merged to become PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk. ("BSI"). This is a landmark bank merger for Indonesia which is part of a strategic initiative to form the country's largest national syariah bank. At the official launch ceremony today, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that Indonesia's syariah banking sector is now the fourth largest in the world. President Widodo said that he hopes that the new BSI will contribute greatly to the syariah economic development for not just Muslims but for all Indonesians, specifically calling for the bank to be inclusive, adopt digitalisation and attract young people. The result of the merger propels BSI to become the 7th largest bank in Indonesia and it has the aspiration to become one of the top 10 syariah banks globally.
Our team who specialises in the M&A of financial institutions – comprising of Senior Partner Erwandi Hendarta, Partner Indah Respati, Partner Mahardikha Sardjana, Associate Partner Eddie Dewanda and Associate Densen Handra – advised the three banks for this merger.
In addition to the three banks which were merged, we needed to work closely with the three parent banks (PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk., PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. and PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.) as well as with the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, the Financial Services Agency/OJK and Bank Indonesia. The Firm is honoured to have worked on this landmark project, especially when it has been processed and completed under highly challenging working environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The completion of this project showed the determination and agility of all the stakeholders, as all meetings were done virtually with sometimes hundreds of attendees.
"We are very proud to be part of this historic merger of the country's syariah banks, which continues to grow in customer base despite the extraordinary pandemic environment," said Erwandi Hendarta, who leads the M&A of financial institutions team in the Banking & Finance practice.
"This mega merger befits the culmination of a busy 2020 for our team, where we also did the sale of PT Bank Permata Tbk. for Standard Chartered Bank and Astra International Tbk., the integration of Bangkok Bank branches into PT Bank Permata Tbk., the sale of Rabobank Indonesia to PT Bank Central Asia Tbk. group, the purchase of Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi by Sea Group, and the investment of Matahari Department Store Tbk. in PT Bank Nationalnobu Tbk." explained Erwandi.
For further information, please contact:
Erwandi Hendarta, Partner, Baker & McKenzie
erwandi.hendarta@bakermckenzie.com
