Chinatrust seeks delisting from PSE

Chinatrust Commercial Bank (Philippines) Inc. has sought its delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange effective Feb. 24 next year as it moves to revert to being fully privately owned.

The bank hopes to complete soon an offer to redeem the share of minority investors.

The subsidiary of Taiwan’s largest bank Chinatrust Commercial Bank has decided to seek delisting and go back to being fully privately owned due to the PSE’s requirement for all listed companies to widen their public float to at least 10 percent.

Based on the bank’s regulatory filing, it has allocated P50 million out of its unrestricted retained earnings to buy back the minority shares. The amount also covers the costs, fees and incidental expenses arising from the buyback.

As of Nov. 30, Chinatrust’s publicly owned shares represented only 0.59 percent of outstanding stock. The holders of these shares are given the option to sell to the bank their shares at P26.14 per share.

ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners acts as the arranger of this tender offer, which will run from Dec. 27 this year to Jan. 27 next year. The shares are intended to be crossed on the PSE on Feb. 3, subject to PSE approval.

“The public offer rules gave the bank the opportunity to evaluate its long-term goals and objectives and align them with those of its parent bank’s other foreign branches and subsidiaries,” Chinatrust president Mark Chen said in the regulatory filing.

By delisting from the PSE, the bank is also shelving its plan to become a universal bank despite having earlier obtained authority from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to upgrade.

An upgrade to universal banking is subject to certain requirements, including having a public float of at least 10 percent.

The bank believes that it has a strong capital position and that it can still pursue its strategic objectives without being a publicly listed entity. At the same time, it was happy with a simplified ownership structure and strong parent bank support. Doris C. Dumlao