《TAIPEI TIMES》Financial merger to be 4th largest

Staff writer, with CNA

Shareholders of Taishin Financial Holding Co （台新金控） and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co （新光金控） yesterday approved plans for the companies to merge through a stock swap, which would result in the fourth-largest financial holding company in Taiwan.

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In extraordinary shareholder meetings yesterday morning, 92.72 percent of Taishin shareholders in attendance approved the deal, while Shin Kong, where the merger faced some resistance, ultimately approved it with 72.29 percent of shareholders voting in favor.

The approval by the companies’ shareholders means that the merger proposal would be sent to the Financial Supervisory Commission （FSC） for review.

The boards of directors of Taishin Financial and Shin Kong Financial initially agreed to a merger plan on Aug. 22. However, that same day, CTBC Financial Holding Co （中信金控） launched its own bid to buy Shin Kong Financial viaa tender offer.

Faced with the competition, Taishin Financial submitted a new merger proposal on Sept. 11, raising the stock swap ratio to 0.672 of Taishin Financial common shares for each Shin Kong Financial common share, up from the previous ratio of 0.6022.

Taishin Financial also offered to exchange 0.175 preferred shares for one Shin Kong Financial preferred share to sweeten the deal.

CTBC Financial’s hostile takeover bid was rejected by the FSC on Sept. 16 on the grounds that it did not have a comprehensive plan to implement the acquisition. Days later, CTBC Financial announced that it was dropping its takeover bid.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES