United Overseas Bank
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| United Overseas Bank Limited | |
 |
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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1935 |
| Headquarters | Singapore |
| Key people | Wee Cho Yaw, Chairman & CEO Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman & President |
| Products | Financial Services |
| Employees | (Fill in) |
| Slogan | United for Growth |
| Website | United Overseas Bank Group |
United Overseas Bank Limited SGX: U11 (Simplified Chinese: 大华银行有限公司; Pinyin: Dàhuá Yínháng Yǒuxìan Gōngsī), abbreviated as UOB (Simplified Chinese: 大华银行; Pinyin: Dàhuá Yínháng) is a bank incorporated in Singapore. It was founded on 6 August 1935 by Kuching-born Datuk Wee Kheng Chiang, father of the present United Overseas Bank Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wee Cho Yaw, and a group of seven Chinese businessmen.
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[edit] Acquisition of Overseas Union Bank
In 2001, the bank successfully acquired Overseas Union Bank Ltd with a US$5.7 billion offer which outbid rival DBS Bank's $5.2 billion bid. It legally became a single entity under the UOB name from January 2, 2002, becoming Singapore's largest bank in terms of domestic customer loans, credit cards and market capitalisation.
[edit] Malaysia
United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (UOB Malaysia) is a subsidiary of the United Overseas Bank Group, Singapore. Incorporated in Malaysia in 1993, UOB Malaysia took over the operations of Lee Wah Bank Limited (LWB) in 1994. LWB was incorporated in Singapore in 1920 and opened its first Malaysian branch in 1956. In 1973, LWB became a wholly owned subsidiary of United Overseas Bank Limited, Singapore.
On June 7, 1997, UOB Malaysia merged with Chung Khiaw Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (CKBM) and enlarged its paid up capital from RM210 million to RM470 million. United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd and Overseas Union Bank (Malaysia) Bhd merged into one legal entity on February 2, 2002 following the merger of UOB and OUB in Singapore.
[edit] Indonesia
Singapore's United Overseas Bank is raising its stake in Indonesia's PT Bank Buana Indonesia. In a statement, UOB said its wholly owned subsidiary - United Overseas Bank International Investment (UOBII) - had entered into an agreement with P.T. Sari Dasa Karsa for the acquisition of 1,729,872,821 shares in P.T. Bank Buana Indonesia Tbk. The completion of the acquisition is conditional upon certain matters, including the execution of a definitive sale and purchase agreement, and obtaining regulatory consents. On July 15, 2005 , UOB requested trading in its shares to be halted pending an announcement. The company has requested the lifting of trading halt on July 18, 2005. UOB currently owns 23 percent of the issued common shares in Bank Buana. After completion of the acquisition, its shareholding will increase to 53 percent and Bank Buana will become a subsidiary of UOBII. Upon completion of the acquisition, UOB will conduct a tender offer for the rest of the shares in Bank Buana.
The total consideration for the sales is approximately S$285 million. UOB intends to fund the acquisition using internal resources. The Singapore lender bought a 23 percent stake in Bank Buana for S$196 million in 2004 [1]
[edit] Thailand
- Thailand's Financial Institutions Development Fund, or FIDF, has sold a 16% stake in UOB Radanasin Bank PCL to Singapore's United Overseas Bank Ltd. for THB2.90 billion, according to a source at the central bank Wednesday. Prior to the transaction, FIDF, the central bank's financial bailout fund, had a 21.14% stake in UOB Radanasin, while Singapore's UOB held a 78.83% interest. UOB in July last year bought an 80.77% stake in Bank of Asia from Dutch bank ABN AMRO (ABN) and later raised its stake in the bank to 96.8%. UOB is in the process of merging its two Thai units in an attempt to strengthen its presence in Thailand. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of 2005. Currently, the bank is operating under the name "Bank of Asia". However, the name will likely be changed to include "UOB" later. After acquiring Bank of Asia, the enlarged entity will be big enough to compete in the market, he said. Its capital adequacy ratio is around 14%, well above the central bank's requirement of 8.5%.The merged entity will become the eighth or ninth largest bank in the country with THB200 billion worth of assets and 3,700 employees.
- On September 7, 2005,UOB announced that the Thai Ministry of Finance has approved the proposed merger of UOB's two banking subsidiaries, Bank of Asia Public Company Limited ("BOA") and UOB Radanasin Bank Public Company Limited ("UOB Radanasin"). Following receipt of the approval:-
1. UOB will proceed to complete its acquisition of approximately 16.22% interest in UOB Radanasin from The Financial Institutions Development Fund at THB 14.16 per share;
2. UOB has made a conditional offer to undertake a delisting tender offer for the remaining 0.01% shares in UOB Radanasin not held by it at THB 14.16 per share;
3. Upon completion of the delisting tender offer:- (a) UOB Radanasin will be delisted, subject to regulatory and shareholders' approval; (b) UOB proposes to sell its entire stake (approximately 100%) of the shares it holds in UOB Radanasin to BOA at THB 13 per share; and (c) UOB Radanasin proposes to transfer its business to BOA;
4. BOA proposes to pay cash for the acquisition of the UOB Radanasin shares and proposes to undertake a rights issue or take a bridging loan from UOB to finance the acquisition;
5. Following the merger:- (a) UOB Radanasin will be liquidated, subject to shareholders' and regulatory approval; and (b) BOA proposes to change its name to "United Overseas Bank (Thai) Public Company Limited".
- On 13 September 2005, further to its announcement on 8 September 2005, United Overseas Bank Limited ("UOB") announced that it had completed the purchase from The Financial Institutions Development Fund of 208,409,296 shares of THB10 each, representing approximately 16.22% of the issued shares of UOB Radanasin Bank Public Company Limited ("UOBR") for a total cash consideration of THB2,950 million (S$121.7 million) or about THB14.16 (S$0.58) per share on a "willing-buyer, willing-seller" basis. Following completion, UOB's shareholding in its Thai banking subsidiary, UOBR, has increased from 83.77% to 99.99%. Subject to approval from UOBR shareholders and Thai regulatory authorities, UOB will proceed to make a delisting tender offer for the remaining 0.01% shares in UOBR that it does not own, at THB14.16 per share. As at 31 December 2004, the audited net tangible assets of UOBR was THB 7,022 million. The shares of UOBR had been suspended from trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 2 March 1998. The last traded price of UOBR shares was THB6.50 on 27 February 1998.
[edit] Philippines
United Overseas Bank (Philippines) (UOB Philippines) is also subsidiary of the United Overseas Bank Group, Singapore. This subsidiary was formed in 1999, and has the largest branch network in the Philippines among all the foreign based banks in the country. In late April 2005, there was talk about selling UOB Philippines or merging it with other banks as losses mounted.
United Overseas Bank has said it is selling 66 of its 67 Philippine branches to Banco de Oro Universal Bank, in a move aimed at rationalising its operations in the country. The deal is worth 600 million pesos, or S$11.1 million, and is subject to due diligence and regulatory approval. UOB Philippines was in the red to the tune of some S$21 million in 2004, due to a poor business environment. In 2003 it booked a loss of S$19.7 million. UOB said it was converting UOB Philippines into a thrift bank, focusing on wholesale banking and fee-based income. As such, it would not need a full branch network; hence, the sale to Banco De Oro.
The Philippine losses are relatively small compared with the S$1.45 billion in net profit that UOB earned in 2004. Looking at the bigger picture, analysts say the deal will allow UOB to focus instead on other more profitable overseas markets. Analysts expect UOB to post a 2005 full-year net profit of S$1.7 billion, up some 17 percent from last year, as contributions from these purchases kick in.
[edit] China
United Overseas Banking Group, has been in talks to buy into China’s Industrial Bank, formerly known as Kujian Industrial Bank.
[edit] Other news
UOB is to sell a 34.74 percent stake in property arm United Overseas Land, worth about S$613 million. The divestment is to comply with the Singapore Monetary Authority of Singapore's regulations that it pare down stakes in its non-core businesses to below 10 percent by 2006. In 2005, UOL was caught in a takeover tussle between UOB and investment company Temasek Holdings, rejecting Temasek's overtures twice. In December 2004, when the property arm halved its shareholding in the parent company to just over 2 percent, UOB had still held a controlling 44.8 percent stake in UOL. Both UOB and UOL are controlled by billionaire banker Wee Cho Yaw and UOL owns several office blocks in Singapore and hotels in Asia.
