Cosmos Bank Taiwan (萬泰銀行), Ta Chong Commercial Bank (大眾銀行) and EnTie Commercial Bank (安泰銀行) surged by their daily trading limits in Taipei on reports that Saudi Arabian funds may be considering investments in Taiwanese financial companies.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported the family of Saudi Arabia King Abdullah may be interested in buying companies including the three banks, without saying where it got the information.
Cosmos Bank surged by 6.9 percent to NT$7.59 in local trading. EnTie jumped 6.9 percent to NT$13.10 and Ta Chong surged to NT$8.24, its highest in almost two years.
Andrew Lee (李治平), chief financial officer for Entie, said the bank has not been contacted by any Saudi Arabian investor. Edmund Koh (許健洲), Ta Chong’s president, said he was not aware of the matter.
Paul Lo (盧正昕), chairman of Cosmos Bank, could not be reached immediately at his office.
Lee said the lender has not been notified by its largest shareholder, Longreach Group Ltd, of any contact by Saudi investors. Ta Chong’s largest shareholder is Carlyle Group LP and Cosmos is controlled by SAC Capital Advisors LP.
“If Saudi funds are looking at Taiwan banks, it could be as a proxy to the China market, rather than the domestic market,” said Tseng Fan-jen, a finance analyst at KGI Securities Co (凱基證券), who questioned the speculation.
“The Taiwan banking industry is too fragmented, competitive and over-regulated, and there is little potential upside for investments,” Tseng said.
Taiwan has been pushing to consolidate its financial industry that has 37 local banks, 30 foreign lenders and more than 300 credit associations competing to serve 23 million people.
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