KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Capital Bhd (RHBCap) said there is no plan currently to enter into merger discussions with AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group).

The fourth largest lender in the country was responding to a New Straits Times report yesterday that it may revisit earlier plans to merge with AmBank Group, the nation’s fifth largest lender by assets.

“It is business as usual at RHB and we will continue to focus on improving our fundamentals,” RHBCap said in a statement yesterday.

DigitalEdge Weekly had reported in its latest issue, citing sources, that the potential merger between RHBCap and AmBank Group has been put on hold due to the current political headwinds.

A source familiar with the matter told the weekly that the initial plan was to merge the two groups in a share swap valued at about US$10 billion (RM38.5 billion), under which RHBCap would be the acquirer.

AmBank Group has long been viewed as a potential merger and acquisition candidate because of the possibility that its two largest shareholders, apart from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), may eventually exit.

The two largest shareholders in AmBank Group are Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) with a 23.78% stake and founder cum chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim with a 12.97% stake held through AmCorp Group Bhd. EPF owns a 16.4% stake. The retirement fund, meanwhile, is the single largest shareholder of RHBCap with a 41.49% stake, followed by Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments PJS (21.2%) and OSK Group’s Tan Sri Ong Leong Huat (9.97%).

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on August 4, 2015.