State-owned lender PT Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) is set to acquire Islamic commercial bank PT Bank Victoria Syariah (BVIS).

A conditional sales purchase agreement was signed, paving the way for BTN to acquire 100% of BVIS shares from its existing shareholders – PT Victoria Investama Tbk (80.18%), PT Bank Victoria International Tbk (19.80%), and Balai Harta Peninggalan (BHP) Jakarta (0.0016%).

This acquisition will see BTN merge its Islamic Business Unit (BTN Syariah) with BVIS to establish a new, independent Islamic bank.

This move aligns with regulations which mandate the separation of Islamic business units from conventional banks if their assets reach 50% of the parent bank’s total assets or exceed IDR 50 trillion.

This separation must be carried out within two years of meeting these thresholds.

BTN Syariah’s assets have already reached IDR 58 trillion, growing 19.2% year-on-year, and are projected to reach IDR 66-67 trillion after the spin-off.

BTN President Director Nixon LP Napitupulu explained that acquiring BVIS provides a streamlined path to comply with these regulations.

BVIS was selected not only due to its suitable size and positive growth trajectory, but also because it is already established as a sufficient Islamic general bank.

As of Q3 2024, BVIS’s assets reached IDR 3.32 trillion, an 8.02% increase year-on-year.

The acquisition, funded by BTN’s internal resources, is pending approvals from both banks’ shareholders and the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

BTN aims to finalise the process by the end of the first half of 2025.

The newly formed Islamic bank will operate as a limited liability company (PT), further solidifying its independent status.

BTN Syariah will continue operations as usual until the legal and formal transition to the new Islamic bank is complete.

“BTN assesses that the development of the sharia economy in Indonesia needs to be supported by players who have competitive strength or competitive advantage with a comprehensive banking and financial service proposition for the housing sector.

This corporate action will support the development of BTN Syariah to fulfill this position and answer the needs of customers in the sharia market. Both parties, namely BTN and the shareholders of Bank Victoria Syariah have reached a mutual agreement to support this effort,”

said Nixon.

Featured image credit: Edited from BTN

The article first appeared on Fintech News Singapore