Hong Kong’s Bank of East Asia proposes $372 million share buyback

(Corrects spelling of Elliott Investment Management in first paragraph)

(Reuters) -Hong Kong’s Bank of East Asia Ltd said on Friday it intends to buy back 8.43% of its total issued shares worth HK$2.904 billion ($372.65 million) owned by hedge fund Elliott Investment Management’s affiliated entities.

The share buyback which will be settled using the bank’s internal resources, will take place in an off-market transaction at a maximum of HK$11.78 per share, a 7.2% discount to its last close on Friday.

The share buyback would result in a 6% hike in the consolidated net asset value per share attributable to its shareholders, the Hong Kong-based lender said in a statement.

“This reinforces and builds upon the series of actions our management team has taken over the last few years to strengthen operations, generate value creation opportunities, and further position the bank for growth and long-term success,” Adrian Li and Brian Li, Co-Chief Executives for the bank said.

($1 = 7.7929 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)