Long wait is over for PNB, Allied Bank merger

The long-awaited merger of Philippine National Bank and Allied Banking Corp. will finally push through on Feb. 9, the PNB said in a disclosure on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013.

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.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, PNB said its board had approved the effective date of the merger with its smaller sister bank on “Feb. 9 in accordance with Article 1.2 of the Amended Plan of Merger.”

Allied Bank’s own board has yet to approve the date of merger.

The PNB board approved the date of merger during a special meeting Tuesday.

Both banks, led by tycoon Lucio Tan, had already secured the remaining foreign and local regulatory approvals required for the transaction to push through.

Last week, the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom approved the change in control of Allied Bank Philippines (UK) Plc and PNB (Europe) Plc, paving the way for the upcoming merger of their parent banks.

Also, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the merger and the corresponding amendment to Philippine National Bank’s bylaws reclassifying PNB’s authorized preferred shares into common shares and increasing the number of directors to 15 from 11.

Once the merger takes place, PNB will be the surviving entity and become the country’s fourth-largest private bank, generating more than P1 billion in yearly cost savings.

Full integration would likely take place 18 months after first executing the merger, according to analysts.

The combined entity will have a distribution network of over 650 branches nationwide and total assets of over P514 billion.

It will maintain a presence throughout the Asia-Pacific region, apart from Europe, the Middle East and North America. PNB also aims to regain leadership in the remittance business.

As part of the consolidation, all the issued and outstanding common shares of Allied Bank will be converted to common shares of PNB at a ratio of 130 PNB common shares for each Allied Bank common share.

All the issued and outstanding preferred stocks of Allied Bank will also be converted to PNB common shares at a ratio of 22.763 PNB common shares for each issued Allied Bank preferred share.