Malaysia's largest bank, Maybank has bought a majority stake in Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII), winning out over a rival offer from the Bank of China (BOC).

Maybank, the unexpected winner in the bidding war, offered US$1.5 billion to acquire 55.7 percent of BII shares, defeating rival bids by BOC and HSBC Group Holdings.

Not long ago CITIC Securities failed in its bid for the United States investment bank Bear Stearns.

However, the appetite of domestic financial firms for overseas investments seems undiminished by repeated setbacks.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese (http://paper.people.com.cn/gjjrb/html/2008-04/02/content_48329114.htm).

(China.org.cn April 2, 2008)