Taishin, Shin Kong Financial shareholders approve merger plan

Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) Shareholders of Taishin Financial Holding Co. and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co. on Wednesday approved plans for the companies to merge through a stock swap, which would result in the fourth-largest financial holding company in Taiwan.

In shareholder meetings on Wednesday morning, 92.72 percent of Taishin common shareholders in attendance approved the deal, while Shin Kong, where the merger faced some resistance, ultimately approved it with 72.29 percent of common shareholders voting in favor.

The approval by the two companies' shareholders means that the merger deal will now be sent to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), Taiwan's top financial regulator, for review.

The boards of directors of Taishin and Shin Kong initially agreed to a merger plan on Aug. 22. On the same day, however, CTBC Financial Holding Co. launched its own bid to buy Shin Kong via tender offer.

Faced with the competition, Taishin submitted a new merger proposal on Sept. 11, raising the stock swap ratio to 0.672 Taishin Financial common shares for each Shin Kong Financial common share, up from the previous ratio of 0.6022.

Taishin also offered to exchange 0.175 preferred shares for one Shin Kong Financial preferred share to sweeten the deal.

CTBC's hostile takeover bid was rejected by the FSC on Sept. 16 on the grounds that it did not have a comprehensive plan to implement the acquisition. Days later, CTBC announced that it was dropping its takeover bid.