RHB Capital to buy OSK Investment Bank

A year ago, RHB Capital was the prey now it’s the predator. In June 2011, it was the target of Malaysian competitors CIMB and Maybank before both rivals aborted their bids. Yesterday, RHB announced a deal that should position it to rival CIMB’s domestic and regional franchise and become the country’s biggest investment bank by assets.

RHB and Malaysia’s OSK Holdings said that they had signed a conditional share purchase agreement for RHB to buy the whole of OSK Investment Bank for M$1.95 billion $620 million. The acquisition is made up of M$147.5 million in cash and 245 million new RHB shares. The shares will be issued at...