appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

SCMP Reporter

China Merchants Bank, the nation's sixth-largest lender, expects it will take two to three years to reach successful integration with  Wing Lung Bank.
The Shenzhen-based lender said it might take three to six months to complete the acquisition of the family-run lender, which will soon delist from the Hong Kong stock exchange.
'We will ensure a stable transition process to both the management team and  employees of Wing Lung,'  the bank said yesterday.
Merchants Bank is the latest among mainland lenders to have acquired an overseas lender over the past year or so, as it seeks to expand services to wealth management.
It competes with China Construction Bank Corp, Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to serve Hong Kong investors on the mainland, and the more wealthy individuals in Hong Kong.
'The takeover will definitely pose a challenge to other mainland lenders in Hong Kong,' said Ivan Li Sing-yeung, an analyst at  Kim Eng Securities.  'Merchants Bank can perform well by providing individual services, like private banking.'
The acquisition will increase the number of Merchants Bank branches in Hong Kong to 36, compared with 222 for Bank of China (Hong Kong), 42 for ICBC (Asia) and 25 for China Construction Bank (Asia).
It will also help Merchants Bank to develop its fledgling life insurance business as the mainland starts to allow cross-shareholdings between insurance companies and banks.
'Merchants Bank is relatively small but nimble, and can be very efficient in executing new business strategy,' Mr Li said.
The lender said last week it would raise 30 billion yuan (HK$34.04 billion) by issuing subordinated debt to boost its capital base, after agreeing to buy a controlling 53.12 per cent stake in Wing Lung for HK$19.3 billion.
Analysts are concerned about the Merchants Bank's financial capability to acquire Wing Lung. It  had a capital adequacy ratio of 10.9 per cent last year, well above the market average of 8.4 per cent, according to data on the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission's website.
The mainland bank said it would maintain the 8 per cent minimum capital ratio through the bond sale.



Merchants Bank says  integration to take 2 years