Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLBB) has completed the acquisition of EON Capital Bhd's assets and liabilities for RM5.06 billion, after almost 15 months of battle, making it the fourth largest banking group in Malaysia with combined assets of more than RM140 billion.

It is an exciting day, a beaming Yvonne Chia, the group managing director and chief executive said, flanked by her board members.

Sending a sense of relief to the combined 12,000 workforce, she also said there would be no layoffs amid the shortage of talents in the banking industry.

So, within EON bank itself there is tremendous opportunity. When we move towards growing the franchise, we believe a lot of roles will be reconfigured into new roles and probably there will be less multi-tasking, she said.

Rest assured that employees' welfare and interests have been and will continue to be a priority for the group, she said.

Under the new entity, there will be a total of 300 branches and 1,200 self service terminals.

Both HLB and EON are committed to making the integration as seamless as possible for everyone, she said at a press conference here, today.

Also present was EON Bank Bhd's head, group business and
investment banking, Peter Chow and board members.

With the acquisition, EON Bank Bhd, EONCAP Islamic Bank Bhd and MIMB Investment Bank Bhd now become part of Hong Leong Bank Group.

As for regional presence, Chia said although EON Bank was not there yet, it still led certain segments in Malaysia and this will strengthen the group. She said the group will invest considerable sum in rebranding EON.

On MIMB's licence, she said that under the present regulations they could have only one licence.

We intend to put into our investment bank some of the assets that are relevant to the investment bank.

However, plans are still being finalised and for the time being MIMB will remain under the group, said Chia.

Asked if the appeal by Primus Pacific Partners Ltd will have any bearing on the acquisition, she said the most important thing was that the transaction had been legally completed. Both the banks will work towards the integration, she added.

EON Capital's largest shareholder Primus Pacific had attempted to block the transaction and has filed a suit via its local unit Primus (M) Sdn Bhd. However, the court had ruled in favour of EON Capital. -- Bernama