RHB and AmBank to merge?

RHB and AmBank have submitted a request separately to Bursa Malaysia to suspend the trading of their respective shares on June 1, 2017, “pending a material announcement” to be made by them.

Both requests were approved by the Bursa Malaysia on the same date.

According to a notification published on the Bursa Malaysia website, the suspension request was made under Paragraph 3.1(b) of Practice Note 2 of the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

The announcement is widely expected to be a merger of the two banks, source familiar with matter have said.

According to Bloomberg, as of May 31st, RHB and Ambank are the fifth and seventh biggest banks in Malaysia by market capitalisation respectively.

If indeed the banks merge, they would form the fourth biggest bank in the country by market capitalization with a combined value of approximately RM37 billion, behind Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB Group.