Bank of China is considering the purchase of a stake in Malaysia's lender AMMB Holdings, however, talks may only be preliminary as mergers and acquisitions require the support of the central bank. AMMB's largest shareholder is Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) with 24% and Tan Sri Azman Hashim with 16.8%. ANZ bought into AMMB in 2006 in two tranches averaging RM3.63 a share or RM2.58bil, which translated into a price-to-book (P/B) of 1.96 times. The Malaysian government has been looking to expand its role in global financial services by acquiring stakes in banks such as Citigroup Inc
Bank of China is considering the purchase of a stake in Malaysia's lender AMMB Holdings, however, talks may only be preliminary as mergers and acquisitions require the support of the central bank. AMMB's largest shareholder is Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) with 24% and Tan Sri Azman Hashim with 16.8%. The Malaysian government has been looking to expand its role in global financial services by acquiring stakes in banks such as Citigroup Inc