Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) yesterday said it has formally completed the acquisition of MasterLink Securities Co (元富證券) and announced that vice chairwoman Catherine Lee (李紀珠) would double as vice chairman of the subsidiary.
MasterLink chairman Joey Chen (陳俊宏) will remain in his position and the brokerage will retain its name, but its logo will be changed in line with Shih Kong Financial’s logo design, the company said.
The paid-in capital of Shin Kong Financial would exceed NT$120 billion (US$3.93 billion) following the acquisition, with its total assets becoming the fifth-largest among the nation’s financial holding companies, the company said.
By acquiring MasterLink, Shin Kong said it would keep focusing on the insurance, banking and securities businesses, while strengthening its assets management and other diversified services.
The company said it also expects further synergies including lower operating costs and a bigger customer base for cross-selling.
It plans to expand in overseas and domestic markets in the long term, Shin Kong said.
Shin Kong first invested in MasterLink Securities in 2007 with a more than 25 percent stake.
On April 24, Shin Kong, which then held a 33.45 percent stake in MasterLink Securities, announced it would issue new shares to acquire the remaining 66.55 percent stake via a share swap valued at about NT$13 billion.
The share exchange ratio is 0.96 shares of Shin Kong for every MasterLink share that Shin Kong would acquire, the company said.
Overall, the financial holding company spent NT$10.6 billion to acquire the brokerage house.
The firm’s net profit in the first half of this year reached NT$16.17 billion, up from NT$1.51 billion a year earlier, or earnings per share of NT$1.54, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Analysts expect the MasterLink deal to boost Shin Kong’s earnings by 3 to 4 percent in the near term.
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