Standard Bank, ICBC on course

JOHANNESBURG – Standard Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on Friday confirmed that all of the regulatory and shareholder requirements for the transaction between them to proceed had been fulfilled.

This deal will result in ICBC purchasing a 20 per cent stake in Standard Bank, valued at R36,7 billion. The equity investment is the largest foreign direct investment into the country and is a landmark transaction for Africa, South Africa and Standard Bank.The effective date of the transaction was February 15 2008.The last day to trade in Standard Bank shares in order to receive the scheme consideration is this Friday, February 22 2008.The transaction will be finally implemented on March 3 2008.Under the scheme, ICBC will acquire 11,11 per cent of the aggregate issued ordinary share capital of Standard Bank Group from existing Standard Bank Group ordinary shareholders at a price per share of R136,00.Standard Bank will issue new shares for which ICBC will subscribe, which will represent 11,11 per cent of the existing share capital.ICBC is the Peoples Republic of China’s (PRC) leading commercial bank with more than 180 million personal banking customers and 2,5 million corporate banking customers.It has over 16 000 branches and outlets in the PRC and nearly 100 branches in the rest of the world.The equity investment is the largest foreign direct investment into the country and is a landmark transaction for Africa, South Africa and Standard Bank.The effective date of the transaction was February 15 2008.The last day to trade in Standard Bank shares in order to receive the scheme consideration is this Friday, February 22 2008.The transaction will be finally implemented on March 3 2008.Under the scheme, ICBC will acquire 11,11 per cent of the aggregate issued ordinary share capital of Standard Bank Group from existing Standard Bank Group ordinary shareholders at a price per share of R136,00.Standard Bank will issue new shares for which ICBC will subscribe, which will represent 11,11 per cent of the existing share capital.ICBC is the Peoples Republic of China’s (PRC) leading commercial bank with more than 180 million personal banking customers and 2,5 million corporate banking customers.It has over 16 000 branches and outlets in the PRC and nearly 100 branches in the rest of the world.