SEC approves Banco de Oro, Equitable merger

The Securities and Exchange Commission has given the green light to the merger of Banco de Oro Universal Bank, the main banking unit of the SM Group of Companies, and Equitable PCI Bank. The merger will produce the Philippines' second largest bank, with nearly P6 billion in assets. The new lender, which will be named Banco de Oro-EPCI Inc., will be next only to Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. in size. The approval would be effective May 31. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Banco de Oro said it will also be increasing its authorized capital stock to P65 billion, divided into P5.5 billion worth of common shares and P1-billion worth of preferred shares, all with a par value of P10. SM Investments Corp. of retail magnate Henry Sy made a tender offer to buy additional shares of Equitable at P92 per share in August last year. The tender offer resulted in the Sy group acquiring a total of 59.73 percent stake in Equitable after buying some P17.47-billion worth of shares of the country's third largest-lender. Another 25.84-percent shares in Equitable from the Social Security System has yet to be bought following a legal case pending before the Supreme Court. The SSS has pledged to sell its stake once its gets the nod of the SC. If the SSS deal pushes through, SM Investments will take over 85.6 percent of EPCI. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV