Sai Gon-Ha Noi Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SHB) has sold 98.47 per cent of its shares in its brokerage arm SHB Securities JSC (SHBS), equal to 14.77 million shares.– Photo SHB

Sai Gon-Ha Noi Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SHB) has sold 98.47 per cent of its shares in its brokerage arm SHB Securities JSC (SHBS), equal to 14.77 million shares.

The shares were sold equally to three individuals for VND7,850 (35 US cents) per share, lower than the par value of VND10,000 per share. SHB estimated it would receive nearly VND116 billion ($5.15 million) from the deal.

SHBS was formerly known as Hanoi Building Joint Stock Commercial Bank (Habubank) Securities JSC (HabubankSc), which was owned by Habubank before 2012.

The company was renamed SHBS after Habubank was acquired by SHB in 2012.

In August 2016, SHB also offloaded its entire ownership in Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities JSC for VND6,600 per share.

Though SHB is no longer a shareholder of SHS, the bank remains the main source of financial capital for the securities company.

The total value of short-term loans that SHB lent to SHS increased to VND700 billion at the end of September from VND386 billion in late second quarter.

At the company’s annual shareholder meeting in April 2017, shareholders of SHS approved the firm’s proposal to acquire SHBS. However, it has remained unclear if the two brokerage firms would finalise their merger. – VNS