Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi Delays IPO as New Investor Arrived
Indonesian financial institution Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi delayed its initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange because it welcomed a new investor. Earlier Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi planned to conduct its IPO at the start of 2018. It still targets to become a publicly listed company this year but in the second half of 2018, the earliest.
Sasmaya Tuhuleley, President Director of Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi, said several factors made the financial institution postpone the IPO, most importantly the arrival of a new investor. Tuhuleley added that the bank will first conduct a rights issue before going ahead with the IPO later this year.
The name of the new investor is not revealed yet. Tuhuleley only said this new investor purchased a 21 percent stake in Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi. As a result of the deal, Induk Koperasi Pegawai Republik Indonesia (IKPRI)'s share ownership in the bank fell to 27 percent (previously it held a majority stake). Somewhere in the future the new investor wants to obtain a majority stake in the bank.
Through the IPO, which may take place in the second half of 2018, Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi targets to raise up to IDR 300 billion (approx. USD $22 million). The bank is eager to strengthen its capital structure in order to become a BUKU II bank. BUKU (in Indonesian: Bank Umum Kelompok Usaha) is a categorization system, designed by Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia), that divides Indonesian banks into four categories based on the banks' core capital. Banks categorized under BUKU II have capital between IDR 1 trillion (approx. USD $74 million) and IDR 5 trillion (approx. USD $370 million).
BUKU System Indonesia:
| Category | Core Capital |
| BUKU I | < IDR 1 trillion |
| BUKU II | IDR 1 trillion - IDR 5 trillion |
| BUKU III | IDR 5 trillion - IDR 30 trillion |
| BUKU IV | > IDR 30 trillion |
Per December 2017, Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi's assets stood at IDR 4.1 trillion. Meanwhile, its credit disbursement grew 34 percent on a year-on-year basis in 2017.
Earlier the Financial Services Authority (OJK) said several banks in Indonesia - both conventional and sharia ones - are considering to conduct an IPO on the Indonesia Stock Exchange this year. The banking sector is currently the hottest sector in terms of share performance on the local bourse. However, despite seeing a total of 37 IPOs in 2017, there were no banks that went public that year. In the five preceding years, however, there were at least two banks per year that went public in Indonesia. Another bank that is planning to list this year is Bank BRI Syariah.