Chinatrust `not aware' of offer

Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. (中信金控), Taiwan's fourth-largest financial services company by market value, said it was unaware of Morgan Stanley's reported plan to buy a stake.

"Chinatrust's management hasn't been informed about the Morgan Stanley plan," Chinatrust chief strategy officer Jason Wang (王正新), who is visiting the US, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Wang said he and Chinatrust executives have talked with executives of more than 10 foreign and local investors, including Morgan Stanley, about its plan to sell a stake, though no final agreements have been made.

Morgan Stanley has filed an application with the Investment Commission to invest about NT$20 billion (US$610million) to buy a 10 percent stake in Chinatrust Financial, the Economic Daily News reported yesterday, without citing any sources.

Morgan Stanley spokeswoman Cheung Po-ling (張寶玲) declined to comment.

Chinatrust Financial set no ceiling on the stake to be sold to foreign investors, Wang said on June 6.