Malaysian investment bank CIMB Bhd has acquired GK Goh Stockbrokers, which is the largest component of its S$239 million ($141.9 million) ac...

Malaysian investment bank CIMB Bhd has acquired GK Goh Stockbrokers, which is the largest component of its S$239 million ($141.9 million) acquisition of the stockbroking businesses of GK Goh Holdings. In a statement, CIMB said the acquisitions of GK Goh Securities Hong Kong and PT GK Goh Indonesia are pending final regulatory approval in their respective jurisdictions and are expected to be completed shortly. A new wholly-owned subsidiary of CIMB, CIMB-GK, is the holding company for all the CIMB group’s non-Malaysian investment banking businesses. The board of CIMB-GK will be spearheaded by CIMB chief executive Datuk Nazir Razak, with Goh Yew Lin as executive deputy chairman and Lee Ming San as the chief executive officer. Datuk Nazir said as an investment bank whose roots are in the region, CIMB understands the region intimately and is committed to it. “We hope our customers in Singapore, Indonesia and elsewhere in the region will see us as the premier ‘local’ investment bank. Being of the region, we are here to stay through thick and thin. We do not have the luxury of retreating to alternative markets.” CIMB-GK will offer institutional equities, retail broking, investment research and corporate finance, thus providing the regional complement to CIMB’s existing product offerings. The company would have a variety of distribution channels, over 200 private client dealers in Singapore and Jakarta where it holds a 12 per cent and 3 per cent market share respectively, and an institutional sales network in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Jakarta. It also has 150 financial planners in Singapore, 24 research professionals covering Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong as well as GohDirect, an e-broking platform that allows trading across six international stock exchanges.