Bancommerce, CIMB near deal

MANILA, Philippines - The CIMB Group and the San Miguel Group is scheduled to sign the share swap agreement on or before the end of February.

The accord in effect turns over 60 percent of common shares of the Bank of Commerce to CIMB (Commerce International Merchant Bank), the second largest financial institution in Malaysia.

“The actual turnover is scheduled for June this year,” a source said.

Despite some delays in the required documents from the CIMB, the scheduled turnover “is still on track.”

Sources said earlier reports placed the acquisition cost in the vicinity of $231-million to $280-million for a majority stake in the bank.

Based on the published balance sheets of Bank of Commerce as of September 2011, total assets amounted to P96 billion, loans and receivables P43 billion, and deposits at P73 billion.

The San Miguel Group controls majority stake in the bank.

The CIMB Group operates across ASEAN under several corporate entities including CIMB Investment Bank, CIMB Bank, CIMB Islamic, CIMB Niaga, CIMB Securities and CIMB Thai.

While it operates in 14 markets around the globe, its main markets of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand primarily focus on consumer banking, corporate and institutional banking and markets and group asset management and insurance.

It does not have a presence in the Philippines.

As of September 2011, CIMB Group was Malaysia’s second largest financial services provider and the second largest company on Bursa Malaysia, with a market capitalization of 51.8 billion ringgit.

The holding company, CIMB Group Holdings Berhad, is listed on Bursa Malaysia.

 It reported a record net profit of 2.898 billion ringgit as of end September 2011.