Several banks are reportedly interested in debt-ridden Chinfon Commercial Bank (慶豐商銀), which goes up for sale today.
“Seven or eight banks have put down deposits to qualify to place bids tomorrow [today],” an official at the Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC, 中央存保) said on condition of anonymity.
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) said in a filing to the stock exchange yesterday that its asset management unit would bid for the bank’s NT$12.48 billion (US$369 million) in good assets and NT$5.96 billion in bad loans.
Victor Kung (龔天行), president of Fubon Financial, had earlier said the company was also interested in Chinfon’s Vietnam branch.
Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行), Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) and private equity firms Olympus Capital and SAC Capital were also interested in Chinfon, media reports said.
But Taiwan Cooperative Bank president Lin Tien (林田) said yesterday the bank “has no plans to bid.” A Mega Bank official also said the bank’s board had not called any meeting to discuss a bid.
The head of Chinfon’s union, Vincent Lee (李冠廷), yesterday expressed hope the buyer would retain all employees. He said bank employees hoped the government would exclude foreign bidders from the auction because they tend to be aggressive in job cuts.
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