MANILA, Philippines — The amended plan of merger of Philippine National Bank and Allied Banking Corporation has been approved by their respective board of directors.

In disclosures to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the banks said ING Bank NV, financial adviser to the Lucio Tan Group of companies, have prepared a proposal recommending a share swap ratio between PNB and Allied Bank to approximate the relative contribution of both banks to the merger bank.

Under the amended plan, 130 PNB common shares will be issued for each Allied Bank common share while 22.763 PNB common shares will be exchanged for each Allied Bank preferred share.

They said the exchange ratio for the Allied Bank preferred shares was calculated based on the conversion ratio of these into Allied Bank common shares. Based on the book value of the common shares, each preferred share is equivalent to 0.1751 common share.

The PNB common shares to be issued will be taken from PNB’s authorized but unissued capital stock at a price of P70.00 per share and listed with the PSE. PNB said it will be issuing a total of 423.96 million new common shares for the merger.

Last 2008, the approved exchange ratio was 140 PNB shares for each Allied Bank common share and 30.73 PNB shares for each Allied Bank preferred share with the issue price at P55.00 per PNB common share.

The effectivity of the merger will be subject to the approval of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Deposit and Insurance Corporation.

Once merged, PNB will be the surviving bank while Allied Bank will cease to exist.

The PNB was established as a government-owned banking institution on July 22, 1916.

The privatization of the bank started when 30 percent of its outstanding stocks was offered to the public and its stocks were listed in the stock exchange in 1989.

With its successful exit from the government’s rehabilitation program and the strong income performance, PNB has demonstrated its ability to sustain its heightened competitiveness based on the three tenets of reducing non performing assets, strengthening core businesses and increasing profitability.

The bank remains as one of the largest banks in the country with a wide array of competitive banking products to answer for the diverse needs of its huge clientele including more than 2 million depositors.

PNB maintains its leadership in the overseas remittance business with remittance centers in the United States, Canada, England, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East countries.