Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya has officially reached an agreement to acquire the full shareholding of Cambodian microlender Hattha Kaksekar Ltd (HKL), a banking executive said yesterday, while declining to disclose the value of the landmark deal.
Hout Ieng Tong, president and chief executive of HKL, said that the technical details of the acquisition have been worked out by representatives of the two financial institutions and the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) sanctioned the transaction last month.
“We got approval from NBC and we also received approval from the Ministry of Commerce,” he said. “Thus, it means everything is completed.”
In a statement released in January, Bank of Ayudhya, also known as Krungsri Bank, announced its intention to acquire HKL in a deal reported to be valued at upwards of $140 million.
Ieng Tong insisted yesterday that the figure revealed in the past was incorrect. However, he declined to put a value on the deal.
Representatives from NBC and the Bank of Ayudhya could be reached for confirmation yesterday.
Bank of Ayudhya is Thailand’s fifth-largest commercial lender with nearly $50 billion in assets.
HKL is Cambodia’s fourth-largest microfinance institution with 150 branches and $446 million in assets as of end-2015. The lender had a $363.5 million loan portfolio, with $236.4 million in deposits last year, according to its annual report.
