Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (
Chinatrust will pay NT$12.65 a share for half of Grand Commercial, controlled by Taiwan's largest food company, and pay the other half in its own shares, Chinatrust president Luo Lian-fu (羅聯福) said at the companies' joint press announcement. That's a 22.8 percent premium over the stock's closing price of NT$10.30.
The share swap is tentatively scheduled to take effect by Dec. 31 and these two lenders will respectively hold temporary shareholders meetings on Aug. 20 to approve the merger deal.
SinoPac Holdings, which has the second-highest percentage of overseas shareholders among Taiwan lenders, last month said it's bidding for Grand Commercial.
Chinatrust is seeking to expand to compete with Cathay Financial Holding Co (
"The takeover can help Chinatrust almost double its branch network, which is crucial for boosting its retail banking products," said Rayson Heung, a banking analyst at HSBC Securities Asia Ltd.
Grand Commercial, a lender 35-percent-controlled by the Uni-President Group (
Grand Commercial, which has 44 branches in Taiwan, is attractive because of its network of automated teller machines in 7-Eleven shops, run by President Chain Store Corp (
Taishin Financial Holding Co (
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