OVERSEA-CHINESE Banking Corp (OCBC) shares climbed the most in three months as it prepares to take Hong Kong’s Wing Hang Bank Ltd private after shareholders accepted its US$5 billion (RM15.9 billion) takeover offer.
OCBC will delist Wing Hang after raising its ownership to 97.52 per cent, the two lenders said in statements to the Singapore and Hong Kong exchanges on Tuesday, the last day of the offer.
Hong Kong’s takeover rules required OCBC, Southeast Asia’s second-largest lender, to own at least 90 per cent of Wing Hang’s shares before the target could be delisted.
OCBC is buying Wing Hang as it seeks more access to the Greater China region, allowing it to offer banking services to Chinese companies expanding in Southeast Asia.
Samuel Tsien, the acquirer’s chief executive officer, had said that his bank intends to tap the owners of Wing Hang’s corporate clients, mainly small and medium companies, for OCBC’s private banking business.
Shares of OCBC rose 1.5 per cent to S$9.91, here, yesterday. Wing Hang was suspended in Hong Kong, where the stock closed at HK$121.80 yesterday. Bloomberg