OCBC BANK ACQUIRES ING ASIA PRIVATE BANK

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- The Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation
Limited (OCBC Bank) Thursday announced its acquisition of Singapore-based ING
Asia Private Bank Limited and its affiliated entities (IAPB) for S$2,048 million
(US$1,463 million) in cash.

The bank said it has reached an agreement with ING Bank N.V. to acquire its
Asian private banking business, and the purchase would be funded by OCBC Bank's
existing resources.

In a statement Thursday, the bank said the acquisition of IAPB marked a
transformational step in OCBC Bank's private banking business and would more
than triple the bank's private client assets under management to US$23 billion,
creating a leading Asian private bank.

OCBC Bank would be well placed to capture the opportunities provided by the
rapid growth of Asia's wealth management industry and Singapore's unique
position as a major private banking hub, attracting wealth from both within and
outside Asia, the bank said.

The acquisition was also in line with the bank's strategic goal of becoming
a leading player in wealth management and would significantly strengthen the
bank's position in serving the wealth management needs of its customers, it
added.

The bank said subject to regulatory approvals being received in Singapore
and other relevant jurisdictions, the transaction is expected to be completed
around year-end 2009.

As at Aug 31, 2009, ING Asia Private Bank had shareholders' funds of
US$906 million and Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio of 25 per cent.

The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on the net
tangible assets or earnings per share of the OCBC Group for the current
financial year.

The transaction is expected to be earnings per share accretive in 2010, with
more significant earnings accretion from 2011 onwards.

OCBC Bank is Singapore's longest established local bank. It has assets of
S$183 billion (US$131.82 billion) and a network of more than 480 branches and
representative offices in 15 countries and territories, including Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Brunei, Japan, Australia, the United
Kingdom and the United States.
-- BERNAMA