First Financial Holdings priced a debut GDR after Taiwan's close on Wednesday, raising $515 million from the sale of 50 million units at $10.30 a piece. This represented a 12.3% discount to the stock's NT$20.2 close in Taiwan, the upper end of a pre-marketed range between NT$17.50 and NT$17.75.
In the end, all involved appeared able to salvage some measure of their reputation and co-opt statistics, which would best justify their view of one of the more controversial deals of the year. For First Financial, the transaction is likely to be viewed as a great achievement, since it has once more successfully pioneered banking sector reform in Taiwan and raised...
