Stockholders to get 1st crack at EPCIB shares

The current stockholders of Equitable PCI Bank (EPCIB) will get the first crack at the 10.8-percent treasury shares presently held by wholly-owned subsidiary EBCI Investment Inc. (EBCII).

"Shareholders will have pre-emptive rights. That has been agreed upon," EPCIB chairperson Corazon de la Paz said. De la Paz is also the president and chief executive officer of the Social Security System (SSS).

The pre-emptive rights will be distributed pro-rated.

The right of first refusal for present shareholders of the bank to purchase the shares have been left unsubscribed.

Current owners of the bank will be allowed to subscribe or purchase a portion of the 10.8 percent treasury shares depending on their present exposure.

Last Aug. 18, EPCIB decided to unload the 10.8-percent holdings of EBCII to beef-up its capital by as much as P7.5 billion in preparation for the implementation of the stricter risk-weight Basle 2 agreement next year.

So far, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) declared that it is not interested in acquiring shares to add to its existing 13-percent equity control.

In contrast, the stakeholder block of the SM group had made it clear that they were still focused in merging EPCIB with subsidiary Banco de Oro Universal Bank.