Hang Seng Bank has appointed Hong Kong-based Somerley Capital as a financial adviser to its committee evaluating HSBC Holdings’ proposal to buy out the bank’s minority shares.
Somerley would provide its opinion to assist the independent board committee in assessing the proposal, Hang Seng Bank said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.
Somerley’s advice and the recommendations of the committee would be included in a forthcoming scheme document to be sent to Hang Seng Bank’s shareholders, the filing said, without providing a timeline.
The move was a standard procedure in a privatisation process and was aimed at ensuring the offer was fair and reasonable to independent shareholders, according to Dickie Wong, executive director of research at Kingston Securities.
“Somerley will assess the offer’s financial implications and potential risks, and issue an opinion letter,” Wong said. “This process is expected to streamline the approval of the proposal at the shareholders’ meeting, with completion anticipated within the next few months.”
On October 9, HSBC announced a plan to privatise its Hang Seng Bank subsidiary, offering to buy all outstanding Hang Seng Bank shares for HK$155 each in cash, or a premium of 30 per cent over the stock’s closing price the previous day.
