Shares in CIMB Thai Bank Pcl jumped as much as 23
percent to 2.96 baht, the highest since Nov. 5, 2010, after a
newspaper reported that its parent, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd
, planned to buy a stake in Bank of Ayudhya.
Local newspaper Khao Hoon quoted a market source as saying
that Malaysian bank CIMB had conducted due diligence on a plan
to acquire about 25 percent stake in Bank of Ayudhya
from General Electric Co (GE( and sought business
cooperation with CIMBT in which it owns 93.15 percent.
GE sold about a quarter of its stake in Bank of Ayudhya late
last month, cutting its share in the bank to 25.3 percent.
.
CIMBT shares were up 19.2 percent at 2.86 baht. The banking
subindex was down 0.9 percent while the broader SET
index fell 0.4 percent.
1133 (0433 GMT)
(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap in Bangkok;
viparat.jantraprapapweth@thomsonreuters.com); Editing by Jijo
Jacob
