TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Shares of Shin Kong Financial Holding Co. (新光金融控股股份有限公司) have ceased trading since Monday (July 14) as the financial institution prepares for its imminent removal from the Taiwan Stock Exchange (臺灣證券交易所), the island's primary securities trading platform. The exchange officials confirmed the company will be officially delisted on July 24. This action completes its absorption into Taishin Financial Holding Co. (台新金融控股股份有限公司) through a previously announced merger agreement that consolidates two of Taiwan's significant financial conglomerates.
Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (金融監督管理委員會), the government agency overseeing financial markets and institutions, formally sanctioned the share exchange merger between the two financial giants on March 31. The regulatory approval designated Taishin Financial as the continuing entity while Shin Kong Financial would be dissolved in the transaction. The combined enterprise will operate under a new identity as TS Financial Holding Co. (台新新光金融控股股份有限公司), with market analysts projecting it will secure position as Taiwan's fourth-largest financial holding company by assets.
The corporate combination brings to a close Shin Kong Financial's 23-year tenure as an independently traded entity on Taiwan's stock market. The financial institution, which made its debut on the exchange February 19, 2002, concluded its final day of public trading on July 11. Shin Kong shares finished at NT$11.8 (approximately US$0.40) per share with daily transaction volume reaching 1.15 million shares. Taishin Financial, which will absorb its smaller competitor, ended the same trading session at NT$18.3 (about US$0.62) per share.
The Taiwan Stock Exchange disclosed in its official statement that Shin Kong Financial has initiated formal procedures to terminate its securities listing status. The disappearing entity will implement a temporary freeze on shareholder registry modifications beginning July 16 and continuing through July 24, the date when its shares will be permanently removed from the exchange. This administrative blackout period facilitates the final transition of ownership in preparation for the merger's completion. ◼
(At time of reporting, US$1 equals approximately NT$29.339)