By this morning the board of Equitable PCI will have received bids from those interested in acquiring a stake in the bank. The board will meet tomorrow to decide whether any of the bids make sense.
JP Morgan is advising the board on the potential for a domestic bank merger which would involve either BPI, Metrobank or Rizal Commercial Banking Corp which is rumoured to have tied up with Sanwa and Banco Santander to make a bid. ING Barings is advising on the possibility of a foreign party taking a strategic stake. As many as seven bids are expected, both foreign and domestic.
The one complicating factor is the new Philippines takeover...
