EAST WEST Banking Corp. (EastWest Bank) has appointed Joseph Omar O.
Andaya, former president and chief executive of Green Bank, Inc. as
chairman of the rebranded rural bank through which it will enter the
microfinance business.
"We requested Mr. Andaya to be the chairman of the rebranded rural
bank," EastWest Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Antonio C.
Moncupa told BusinessWorld in an email last Wednesday.
Mr. Andaya, in a separate e-mail, said: "I accepted the offer as this
would give me the opportunity to be part of the team that would provide
direction to the bank as it moves to the next level of serving Filipinos
in the countryside and market segments such as microentrepreneurs, small
and medium enterprises, farmers and fisherfolk."
Mr. Andaya began to serve as chairman last Aug. 25 during the election
of new directors.
EastWest Bank, the banking arm of the Gotianun's Filinvest Development
Corp., last Tuesday said it had obtained the central bank's approval for
the purchase of Butuan City-based Green Bank.
Filinvest, in a disclosure to the stock exchange last Thursday, said
EastWest Bank would pay a total P175 million to acquire the rural bank.
The principal consideration for the price -- P7.52 for each of the
bank's 23.3 million shares -- was Green Bank's net asset value as well
as its 46 branches and 94 micro banking offices, it said.
Green Bank would add P3 billion to EastWest Bank's P83.1 billion in
consolidated assets as of end-June.
As of Thursday, EastWest had paid Green Bank P148 million for an 85% stake.
"EastWest Bank will do a tender offer at the same price for the
remaining shares of stock it does not own yet," Filinvest added.
Mr. Moncupa said Green Bank would be rebranded and some of its branches
would be turned into EastWest Bank branches.
He did not say what Green Bank's new name would be or how many of the
rural bank's branches would be turned into EastWest branches, although
the central bank has given it the green light to convert 41 of the 46 of
the rural bank's branches.
Mr. Moncupa also said EastWest Bank would retain Green Bank's 700 employees.
EastWest would venture into microfinance -- a business other large banks
also have ventured into to take advantage of high returns -- through the
rebranded rural bank. Its more than one hundred branches nationwide
could serve as "payment centers" for the microfinance business.
"For this year, we don't expect any material contribution from Green
Bank as we will devote the remainder of the year to fine-tune our plans
and to the integration of branches into EastWest," Mr. Moncupa said,
when asked how Green Bank would contribute to EastWest's earnings.
Asked about his plans for the rural bank, Mr. Andaya said the rural bank
would "focus on providing more access to affordable financial services
in the countryside."
Green Bank is the largest rural bank in the Caraga region in asset
terms. It was founded as the Rural Bank of Nasipit in 1975.
The Rural Bank of Nasipit was saddled with soured loans, until it was
acquired by Ismael E. Andaya -- Joseph Omar's father -- and nursed back
to financial health. Its headquarters was moved to Butuan City and it
was renamed as the Green Bank of Caraga.
Joseph Omar took over as bank president in 1999 and the Green Bank of
Caraga was renamed Green Bank, Inc. in 2006.
Green Bank is EastWest Bank's first acquisition after snagging the local
subsidiaries of the American International Group, Inc. (AIG) in 2009.
EastWest acquired AIG Philam Savings Bank, Inc., Philam Auto Finance and
Leasing, Inc., and PFL Holdings, Inc. when these units were put up for
sale to help pay for the lifeline the US government extended AIG during
the financial crisis.
Prior to this, EastWest Bank bought Ecology Savings Bank, Inc. from the
Equitable PCI Bank in 2003. -- from a report by Ann Rozainne R. Gregorio
--
---------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
Email: carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phones: +63495010127 and +63495762924
Cellphone: +639152919580
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
CONSULTING - http://www.carlosani.com
My News Clippings - http://www.myclipps.posterous.com
Family website: http://www.anifamily.net
------------------------------------------
