CTB Financial Holding Co (交銀金控) joined Taiwan's two largest financial groups in a battle to buy control of United World Chinese Commercial Bank (世華銀行), United World said. The winner will catapult to the top spot in the nation's financial services industry.
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) and Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), Taiwan's two biggest financial companies, already have stakes in United World, which is 27 percent owned by the government and also want to take it over.
CTB has joined the bidding, and ``all three are in a race to become Taiwan's biggest financial holding company,'' said Gregory Wang Kuo-hua (
CTB Executive Vice President Huang Feng-I denied the company's participation in the bidding, declining further comment.
United World, Taiwan's 10th largest lender, operates more than 70 branches in Taiwan and seven offices overseas. The battle to control it comes after the government last year allowed the creation of holding companies to reduce the number of lenders, reduce costs in the industry and improve efficiency.
"CTB is less likely to get it because Fubon and Cathay are more aggressive in trying to buy United," said Yang Hsih-ming, who manages NT$1.5 billion in stocks at Fu-hwa Securities Investment Trust Co (復華投信). "In the end, the government will have the final word in deciding who's going to get it." CTB, which is partly owned by the government, owns the Chiao Tung Bank (交通銀行) and is preparing to combine with state-backed lender the International Commercial Bank of China.
A CTB bid for United World would appear to run counter to government efforts to withdraw from the industry, said Cathay spokesman Lee Chang-ken (李長庚).
"We are still seeking ways to increase our stake," said Lee, declining to disclose its holding in United World.
Cathay, which is believed to own about 11 percent of United World, owns the island's biggest life insurer.
Fubon, an affiliate of Citigroup Inc, is believed to have 13 percent of United World. It owns Taiwan's largest non-life insurer.
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