Singapore’s United Overseas Bank has moved to take over its Indonesian subsidiary UOB Buana, announcing plans on Wednesday to privatise the bank in a deal that could be worth S$340m ($248m).

The deal comes ahead of regulations that will ban companies from owning more than one bank in Indonesia, starting in 2010. UOB, which also owns UOB Indonesia, said this year that it would set up a holding company above its two local banking subsidiaries to comply with an expected change in rules.