Building Bridge

Ridha Wirakusumah explains what’s next for Bank Permata post acquisition.

- Elisa Valenta

Last year, Indonesia and Thailand celebrated their 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations. The celebration was coincidently followed by historical business ties as Thailand's oldest family bank, the Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (Bangkok Bank), took over 89.12% stakes in Indonesia's PT Bank Permata. In May, Bangkok Bank paid $2.7 billion to Bank Permata's previous owners Standard Chartered Bank and Astra International, marking it as the first major acquisition of an Indonesian bank by a Thai bank. Not long after the purchase, the Bangkok Bank Indonesia branch merged into Bank Permata.

Bangkok Bank is one of the largest commercial banks in Thailand, with total assets of around $108 billion in 2019. The Thai-Chinese Sophonpanich family established the bank in 1944. The lender's current president is Chartsiri Sophonpanich, the grandson of its founder and former president Chin Sophonpanich and the son of former president Chatri Sophonpanich, the bank's current chairman. The bank is also known to have a long historical relationship with Indonesian conglomerates, including with the late Salim Group founder Sudono Salim. Richard Borsuk and Nancy Chng's Liem Sioe Liong's Salim Group: The Business Pillar of Suharto's Indonesia mentioned that Salim who is known to be the rainmaker for the former President Soeharto - often relied on Chin and his Bangkok Bank to finance critical projects, including when he was building his cement venture.

The acquisition is mutually beneficial, says Bank Permata's president director Ridha Wirakusumah.