Equitable shares worth P17.5B crossed at PSE

About P17.5 billion worth of Equitable PCI Bank shares were crossed Monday at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), after the tender offer by SM Investments to the bank's shareholders ended on Friday. A total of 189.88 million Equitable shares were crossed in 13 blocks. On Friday SM Investments said its tender offer had generated 374.9 million shares or 51.6 percent of the total shares of the country's third largest lender. SM Investments ran a tender offer from August 31 to September 29, buying Equitable shares at P92 each. State pension fund Social Security Sytem (SSS) said Friday it would sell its 25.8 percent stake in Equitable, pending approvable from the Supreme Court. The Government Social Insurance System (GSIS) also agreed to sell its 13.55 percent stake in Equitable. The SM group now holds 85.6 percent of the lender, including the pledged shares of SSS. Such ownership level will allow the conglomerate to merge Equitable with its own unit Banco de Oro Universal Bank, a move which will create the country's largest bank with over P611 billion in total assets. - Patricia de Leon, GMANews.TV