永豐金控

After announcing the acquisition of Cambodia’s Amret Plc. and the merger with King’s Town Bank, SinoPac Holding’s subsidiary SinoPac Securities held a board meeting today (29th) and resolved to absorb and merge with CL Securities Taiwan Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as CLST) for a total consideration of NTD1.628 billion. After the merger, SinoPac Securities will be the surviving company, and a newly established branch will assume all assets, liabilities, and operations of CLST. This marks SinoPac Holdings’ third M&A transaction in the past year.

SinoPac Securities will set up a new branch at CLST’s original location to take over its existing business, ensuring that employees’ job security will not be affected after the merger. The merger and acquisition will take effect upon approval by the competent authorities, with the merger effective date to be separately determined.

Mr. Stanley Chu, President of SinoPac Holdings, stated that in evaluating M&A opportunities, the main considerations include expanding the financial holding group’s business footprint, extending its business reach, and enhancing group synergy. Under these premises, any target that meets these criteria and can ultimately deliver synergy will be seriously considered and evaluated. The acquisitions of CLST, as well as previous deals involving Amret Plc. and King’s Town Bank, were all based on these considerations, with the aim of maximizing benefits for SinoPac Holdings and its shareholders.

SinoPac Holdings and its subsidiary, Bank SinoPac, announced the acquisitions of King’s Town Bank and Cambodia’s largest deposit-taking institution, Amret Plc., in December 2024 and May 2024, respectively. The transfer of 80% equity in Amret Plc. was completed and integrated into operations earlier this year. King’s Town Bank is expected to become a subsidiary of SinoPac Holdings in the fourth quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approval.

CLST was originally a branch of Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA) in Taiwan, later spun off to Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB), and in 2016 was acquired by the current Taiwan management team from CIB. CLST is a broker primarily serving foreign institutional clients in Taiwan equities. In 2024, CLST reported a net income of NTD330 million and a return on equity of 29.8%, with a highly complementary client base to SinoPac Securities.

SinoPac Securities stated that the merger with CLST will help increase SinoPac Securities’ market share in the foreign institutional business. By combining both research teams and leveraging SinoPac Securities’ comprehensive and diversified products and services, the merger will strengthen brokerage services for foreign institutional clients in Taiwan equities and expand the range of product offerings, creating another important profit engine. In addition, CLST’s well-established foreign institutional client channels will further enhance SinoPac Holdings’ international visibility and create opportunities to connect companies underwritten by SinoPac Securities with high-quality, long-term institutional investors from Europe and the United States.

SinoPac Securities ranks as the fourth largest broker in Taiwan equities and second in the sub-brokerage business. In 2024, SinoPac Securities achieved a record net income of NTD5.83 billion and an impressive return on equity of 16.08%. Recently, SinoPac Securities has been actively expanding into digital finance and wealth management and is dedicated to developing sub-brokerage services for foreign securities. The company provides both retail investors and domestic institutions with a reliable platform for trading overseas stocks, ETFs, and bonds, as well as comprehensive research services to support overseas investments. Following the merger, SinoPac Securities will quickly gain market share among foreign institutional clients. Based on 2024 data, SinoPac Securities’ overall market share in Taiwan equities brokerage could rise from 4.78% to 5.42%, becoming a new driver for future growth.