Malaysia's CIMB to acquire 60% stake in SMC's Bank of Commerce

San Miguel Corp. is set to finalize in the next 30 days the sale of a controlling interest in Bank of Commerce to Malaysia's CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.

At the sidelines of SMC's annual stockholder meeting, chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said that SMC and CIMB have come to an agreement based on the terms they agreed on last year.

“We reached a deal last night. Closing is within 30 days. Same terms," he said.

The Filipino-owned firm earlier said it was selling 60 percent of the bank, valued at a little less than $300 million, to CIMB.

SMC acquired a 51-percent stake in the bank in 2009, followed two years later by San Miguel Properties Inc. buying an additional 7.16-percent stake.

As of end-2012, the Bank of Commerce had total assets of almost P93 billion.

According to the company, proceeds from the sale will be used to finance its expansion into the oil and gas sector.

CIMB Group is a regional universal bank operating in 14 countries, including high-growth ASEAN economies. With headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, it has the widest retail branch network across the region. — BM, GMA News