Thailand Financial News

The Board of Directors of SM Investments Corp. (“SMIC”) approved the filing of a Tender Offer Report, in consortium with its affiliates, with the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to its plan to purchase the remaining shares of common stock of Equitable PCI Bank, Inc.

(“EPCIB”).
The offer covers all of EPCIB’s shares not already owned by the SM Group and the offer price has been set at P92.00/share payable as follows: 10% payable on October 2, 2006 (Cross and Settlement Date), 10% on June 2, 2007, 10% on February 2, 2008 and 70% on October 2, 2008. The total consideration for the tender offer is estimated at up to P36.9 billion. In addition, the SM Group offered to purchase, on a negotiated basis, the 10.8% stake in EPCIB owned by EBC Investments, Inc. (“EBCII”). The EBCII stake is valued at P7.25 billion. SMIC disclosed that it is undertaking the tender offer to consolidate SM Group’s holdings in EPCIB. It said that it is willing to put in more funds in EPCIB to meet its capital requirements and prepare it for Basle II and the new reporting standards. It also said that it is keeping its option to merge EPCIB with another bank, if the business case for it is present, to further strengthen EPCIB’s balance sheet. Such a merger will, however, be subject to approval of EPCIB shareholders and regulators. The tender offer will commence on August 31, 2006 and end on September 28, 2006. The transaction is expected to be completed on October 2, 2006. The SM Group is one of the largest conglomerates in the country today. It is engaged in shopping mall development, retail merchandising, financial services, and real estate development and tourism. SMIC has total assets and stockholders’ equity of P182.45 billion and P105.14 billion, respectively, as of June 30, 2006.
–www.theasianbanker.com (August 31 2006)–