Long wait is over for PNB, Allied Bank merger
By Paolo G. Montecillo
The long-awaited merger of Philippine National Bank (PNB) and Allied Banking Corp. will finally push through on Feb. 9, nearly four years after plans were first made public.
The long-awaited merger of Philippine National Bank (PNB) and Allied Banking Corp. will finally push through on Feb. 9, nearly four years after plans were first made public.
With two weeks to go before the ultimate deadline, 19 listed companies are still below the 10-percent minimum public ownership required for continued listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Claiming that state prosecutors have failed to prove that his assets are ill-gotten after more than two decades of trying, ethnic Chinese businessman Lucio Tan has filed a P300 million counter-claim for damages from government.
Lucio Tan’s banking units, Philippine National Bank and Allied Banking Corp., expect to complete their merger by 2012 after resolving the remaining stumbling block to this much-delayed union.
Lucio Tan banks’ Allied Banking Corp. and the Philippine National Bank moved another step closer towards their long-awaited merger as Allied announced the transfer of its holdings in a California bank to a trust fund, to be later sold to third-party investors.
