The nation's crowded banking sector is likely to undergo a shake-up after Taishin Financial Holding Co outbid six competitors yesterday to buy a controlling 22-percent stake in state-run Chang Hwa Commercial Bank for NT$36.6 billion (US$1.14 billion), or NT$26.12 per share.
Taishin's offer of NT$26.12 per share is equivalent to a premium of more than 45 percent over Chang Hwa's floor price of NT$17.89 per share and a premium of more than 200 percent over the bank's net value of NT$12.31 per share.
The bid made Taishin Financial the single-largest shareholder in Chang Hwa, the nation's sixth-largest lender. Taishin could now become the nation's second-largest financial service provider, after Cathay Financial Holding, with total assets worth NT$2.1 trillion after it formally takes over Chang Hwa.
The deal means Taishin International Bank will have the largest number of branches of any financial institution in the country -- 270 -- and it will become the second-biggest bank with assets of over NT$2 trillion, next to the wholly state-owned Bank of Taiwan.
"The is a triple-win deal for Taishin Financial, Chang Hwa and the government," Taishin Financial's chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮) told a press conference yesterday.
Taishin Financial, now Chang Hwa's largest single private shareholder, can form a strategic alliance or merger with the bank, which in return is getting the capital it needs to clear its bad assets, Wu said. The deal is also a milestone for the government's financial reform and privatization efforts, he said.
Backed by the Ministry of Finance, Taishin will gain two seats on Chang Hwa's 14-seat board for the moment, before it secures a majority in the official board reshuffle following the closure of the deal at the end of September, Taishin said.
Refuting concerns that Taishin overbid, Wu said his company enjoyed a 1.8-percent dividend on the 1.4 billion new preferred shares it had bought, and that the deal will bring merger benefits in the long term.
However, he said Taishin might not buy the finance ministry's remaining 18 percent stake in Chang Hwa if the price is too high and might instead seek to buy more shares in the market to strengthen its control.
Chang Hwa's spokesman Hsieh Chao-nan (謝昭南) said the company was satisfied with Taishin's offer. Taishin beat six other bidders at yesterday's auction, including Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings and Fubon Financial Holding Co, Hsieh said.
also see story:
Analysts praise Taishin's winning Chang Hwa bid
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS