Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), which last week acquired 53.84 percent of Jih Sun Financial Holding Co (日盛金控), yesterday said it plans to buy the remaining 46.16 percent stake in the third quarter and complete the merger by the end of this year.
It would again offer NT$13 per Jih Sun share, the same as its previous public tender offer, to be fair to all Jih Sun shareholders, Fubon Financial president Jerry Harn (韓蔚廷) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
Having acquired majority control of Jih Sun Financial, Fubon Financial on Tuesday started to recognize its peer’s profits, but operations integration would take more time, Harn said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Fubon Financial would start by merging Jih Sun Financial with its operations by the end of this year, then integrate its banking, securities and futures units into Fubon’s arms by the end of next year, he said.
Jih Sun Financial would cease to exist at the end of this year, but Jih Sun International Bank (日盛銀行), Jih Sun Securities Co (日盛證券) and Jih Sun Futures Co (日盛期貨) would continue operating until they become part of Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行), Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券) and Fubon Futures Co (富邦期貨) respectively next year, he said.
“The consolidation of the banking units and securities arms involves dealing with different information systems and employees from both sides. We need to be more cautious,” Harn said.
Although some of Jih Sun Bank’s and Taipei Fubon Bank’s branches overlap in some areas, they would not necessarily be closed, Harn said.
“We would take this opportunity to expand our presence in the countryside and southern Taiwan,” he said.
Even though some branches would be closed eventually, it does not mean that Jih Sun employees would be dismissed, Harn said, adding that Fubon Financial would protect workers’ rights.
“Fubon Financial has conducted many small and big mergers and acquisitions over the past 20 years, and we have never had major labor disputes. Many of our top managers were from the target companies we acquired,” Harn said.
The acquisition is expected to improve Fubon Financial’s efficiency and cost management, as well as boost its revenue, he said.
The deal would raise Fubon Securities’ market share from 5.57 percent at the end of last year to 9.14 percent after absorbing Jih Sun Securities, which would make it the second-largest securities firm after Yuanta Securities Co (元大證券), it said.
Fubon Futures’ market share would also rise from 2.6 percent to 5.23 percent, with its ranking moving from ninth to fifth, while Taipei Fubon Bank’s number of branches would expand to 174, ranking it first, followed by Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) with 164, it said.
Harn also announced that Fubon Financial’s planned cash dividend payout ratio this year would be similar to last year’s 36.63 percent.
That would imply a cash dividend of NT$3.12 per share, based on the company’s record earnings per share of NT$8.54 last year.
STEADY: Prices are to rebound following inventory rebuilding demand, TrendForce said, with Samsung Electronics Co further trimming capacity as it slashes DDR4 lines The contract prices of DRAM chips are to rise by as much as 18 percent sequentially this quarter — the first price upticks in about eight quarters — driven mainly by inventory rebuilding demand for DRAM chips used in mobile devices and PCs, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) projected yesterday. The price rebound is led by a quarterly increase of mobile DRAM chips, which are to climb between 13 percent and 18 percent quarter-on-quarter this quarter, which has not been seen since the fourth quarter of 2021, the Taipei-based market researcher predicted. Likewise, the price of mainstream PC DDR4 DRAM is expected to bounce
CHINA NOT A FRIEND: ‘Newsflash: Democracy is good for your businesses,’ US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said as she gave a speech at a national defense forum US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Saturday urged lawmakers, Silicon Valley and US allies to stop China from getting semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies key to national security. Speaking at an annual national defense forum in Simi Valley, California, Raimondo called Beijing “the biggest threat we’ve ever had” and stressed that “China is not our friend.” The world’s top two economies are locked in a fierce commercial and geopolitical rivalry, in which her department plays a leading role. In October, Raimondo unveiled a series of restrictions on the export of advanced chips to China, including those used in the development of artificial intelligence
SOLID FOUNDATION: Given its decades of expertise in megatronics, manufacturing and robotics, Japan has the wherewithal to create its own AI, Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp plans to help build an artificial intelligence (AI) tech-related ecosystem in Japan to meet demand in a country eager to gain an edge in this emerging technology. The US company will seek to partner with Japanese research organizations, companies and start-ups to build factories for AI, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday during opening remarks in a meeting with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura. The company is to set up an AI research laboratory, and invest in local start-ups and educate the public on using AI, Huang said. Huang earlier this week met with Japanese Prime
A Hong Kong court postponed a court hearing on troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande Group’s (恆大集團) winding-up petition scheduled for yesterday until Jan. 29. Evergrande is trying to win support from its creditors for a plan to restructure more than US$300 billion in debt to stave off liquidation. The company’s lawyer told the court it was requesting an adjournment to “refine” its new debt restructuring plan. The Hong Kong High Court has postponed the hearing over Evergrande’s potential liquidation several times. Judge Linda Chan (陳靜芬) had said in October that yesterday’s hearing would be the last before a decision is handed down. Chan