MCB Plans Takeovers as Crisis Pushes Pakistan's Banks to Merge: Bloomberg

By Naween A. Mangi

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- MCB Bank Ltd., Pakistan's biggest by market value, plans to acquire domestic rivals as the nation's deepest economic crisis in a decade and tighter central bank rules push more lenders to consolidate.

``We have excess capital and we want to deploy it in assets that make sense for us,'' Chief Executive Officer Atif Bajwa said in an interview in Karachi yesterday. He didn't say which banks he was evaluating. ``The advantage of looking to get something now is that asset prices are low.''

Central Bank Governor Shamshad Akhtar last month increased banks' capital requirements almost fourfold within five years to spur mergers and reduce risk. Bajwa will need to grapple with Asia's highest borrowing costs and a faltering economy that forced Pakistan to seek a $10 billion bailout to avoid default.

``There's going to be a domestic scenario of acquisitions and mergers in which MCB will be a prominent player,'' said Saad Bin Ahmed, head of research at Karachi-based Capital One Equities Ltd., who rates MCB's stock ``hold.'' ``MCB is part of a group which is financially very strong.''

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