Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) has been offered a stake in Centurion Bank, which has been looking for an investor for some time now.
Sources close to the development said that DBS has been invited by Asian Development Bank (ADB), which had taken the lead role in selling off Dev Ahuja's 8.5 per cent in Centurion.
Although a number of players had been offered stakes in Centurion, none had taken a positive decision. ADB has now assumed the lead role in bringing in an interested party which would take a stake in the bank.
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Although DBS could not be contacted, sources said a DBS team had been invited to take a peek into Centurion's books and consider conducting a due-diligence exercise. ADB holds around 10.22 per cent in the bank while International Finance Corporation (IFC) holds around 8.36 per cent.
DBS Bank is one of the largest banks in Singapore, with dominant positions in consumer banking, treasury and markets, securities brokerage, Singapore dollar loans, deposits, and equity and debt fund raising.
In association with its Dao Heng Bank and DBS Kwong On Bank operations, DBS Bank is the fourth largest banking group in Hong Kong.
Beyond the anchor markets of Singapore and Hong Kong, DBS Bank serves corporate, institutional and retail customers through its operations in Thailand, The Philippines, and Indonesia. The Bank's credit ratings are amongst the highest in the Asia-Pacific region.
In 2001, DBS made substantial progress in its goal of building the best bank in Asia. It focused its organisation around the customer, it made a significant step towards a regional scale and it began the design of the programme that will transform DBS into a pan-Asian franchise.