Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評), the local arm of Standard & Poor’s, yesterday said its ratings on Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) would not be affected by the financial service provider’s plans to acquire Tong Shing Securities Co (東興證券) for NT$1.15 billion (US$31 million).
“We do not expect the acquisition plan to significantly affect Taishin Financial’s financial profile, given the small scale of the securities firm, which accounts for about 1.3 percent of the group’s net worth,” the agency said in a press statement.
On a stand-alone basis, this acquisition will slightly increase Taishin Financial’s double leverage ratio by about 1 percent, it said. The board of Taishin Financial agreed on Thursday to buy Kaohsiung-based Tong Shing’s 130 million shares at NT$11.13 apiece, or a 10.3 percent premium, Taishin said in an exchange filing.
The move will help the company retain its securities business, although it had promised not to compete for clients with KGI Securities Co (凱基證券), which acquired the company’s securities arm Taishin Securities Co (台証證券) for NT$29 billion in May, company president Lin Keh-hsiao (林克孝) told local media yesterday.
On Thursday, Taishin Financial said it planned to buy back Taishin Investment Trust Co (台新投資信託), wholly owned by Taishin Securities, for NT$307 million, or NT$10.24 per share.
The company said it would also buy back a 92 percent stake in Taishin Securities Investment Advisory Co (台新投顧), owned by Taishin Securites, for NT$323.6 million, or NT$11.72 per share, the exchange filing showed.
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