Baker & McKenzie’s Hong Kong and Taipei offices have been advising Fubon Financial Holding Co., Ltd (“Fubon”) on its landmark deal to take over Hong Kong-listed International Bank of Asia, Limited (“IBA”).
The deal, valued at approximately HK$4.3 billion, involves the acquisition by Fubon of Arab Banking Corporation’s 55 per cent shareholding in IBA, and a voluntary general offer by Fubon for all the remaining shares of IBA. The deal was announced on 8 September 2003 and, after the fulfilment of various regulatory and other pre-conditions, the general offer was launched on 16 February 2004.
The takeover of IBA marks the first foray and the largest investment to date by a Taiwanese financial institution in the Hong Kong financial sector and marks the ongoing consolidation in the banking and financial services industry in Hong Kong. It is also the first overseas banking venture by Fubon, one of the leading financial holding companies in Taiwan.
The Baker & McKenzie team was led by Milton Cheng, a partner in the M&A group in Hong Kong, who also spearheads the Hong Kong office’s Financial Services group. Michael Wong, a partner in the Firm’s Taipei office, advised on Taiwan banking and regulatory aspects of the deal.
Commenting on the deal, Milton Cheng said, “We are delighted to have acted as legal counsel to Fubon, a long-standing client of the Firm across the Asia Pacific region, on this major deal.
The acquisition provides Fubon with an opportunity to expand into Hong Kong’s financial services industry and is in line with its stated strategic objective of becoming one of the leading financial services companies in the Chinese-speaking world. This deal also evidences the ongoing consolidation in the banking and financial services sector in Hong Kong. We believe the experience we have gained from this landmark deal will provide us with a platform to pursue future similar deals”.
