Taiwan securities giant Yuanta Financial Holding has agreed to acquire Polaris Securities for Tw$48.9 billion ($1.68 billion) in the island's biggest brokerage merger, media reported Sunday. The deal, partly via share swap and partly in cash, was announced Saturday after it was approved separately by the boards of the two listed companies, newspapers said.
The deal, pending the financial regulator's approval, would give the new firm, Yuanta Polaris, a 15.7 percent of the domestic securities brokerage market and consolidate its leading position, the China Times said.