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Shares for Bank of Overseas Chinese rise

Shares of the Bank of Overseas Chinese (華僑銀行) strengthened yesterday after reports said that the lender finally agreed to Citigroup Inc's buyout offer of NT$14 billion (US$425 million) and would formally announce the deal next week.

The Bank of Overseas Chinese gained 3.17 percent to close at NT$11.40 on the GRETAI Securities Market yesterday, outperforming a 1.92 percent increase in the over-the-counter TAISDAQ index.

"We had a regular board meeting in the morning but did not touch on the proposed deal," Bank of Overseas Chinese spokesman Weng Chien (翁健) said in a telephone interview yesterday.

"We are still in aggressive negotiations with the other party but have not yet reached a final agreement on the sale amount and other details," he said.

Citing Dow Jones Newswires, the Chinese-language Commercial Times said yesterday that Citigroup had agreed to acquire the 55-branch lender for between NT$11.6 and NT$11.8 per share.

The tender offer represents a premium of 4.97 percent to 6.78 percent on the Bank of Overseas Chinese's close on Wednesday, the paper said.

The New York-based Citigroup may buy all of the Taiwanese bank's outstanding shares, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing a person familiar with the talks.

The Bank of Overseas Chinese was expected to approve the deal in a board meeting on Monday and announce the deal in the afternoon, reports said.

Weng denied any board meetings were scheduled for next week and declined to comment on the deal.

Citibank Taiwan also declined to comment on reports about the deal.

The Financial Supervisory Commission said it welcomed the deal as long as it as it was not hostile and conformed to the law, but it had not yet received an application for a takeover from Citigroup.
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