BANKING - DRB, Al Baraka call off talks on Malaysia's Muamalat-report - still plans for Indonesia

(Reuters) - Malaysian autos-to-banking conglomerate DRB-Hicom Bhd (DRBM.KL) has ended talks to sell a stake in Bank Muamalat Malaysia to Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group BARKA.BH, a newspaper reported on Thursday.


DRB, which owns 70 percent of Islamic lender Bank Muamalat, stopped the negotiations about three months earlier due to disagreement over the terms, DRB group managing director Mohd Kamil Jamil was quoted as saying by Business Times newspaper.

"I'm looking at a potential strategic partner who can, along with their management and products, also bring their market to us," he said.

DRB is not talking to other suitors and has asked the central bank for more time to sell a 30 percent stake in the Islamic bank, Kamil said.

Reuters was not able to reach DRB on Thursday, a public holiday in Malaysia.

In May, Al Baraka's chief executive Adnan Yousif had said the bank expected to buy a stake in Bank Muamalat by year-end.

The Bahraini lender is also planning to spend $30-50 million to buy a bank in Indonesia, reflecting a trend by Gulf Islamic banks to seek new growth areas as domestic markets mature.  (Reporting by Liau Y-Sing; Editing by Anshuman Daga)

Source : http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE68F01W20100916 - Sept 15, 2010