TYCOON Henry Sy-controlled China Banking Corp. on Thursday said it would acquire an additional 34,464 shares from the minority group in ChinaBank Savings Inc., which opened its third branch last month.

ChinaBank, the country’s ninth-largest bank in terms of assets as of end-March, informed the stock exchange of its board’s approval of the acquisition through negotiated transactions with 11 other shareholders of ChinaBank Savings, formerly The Manila Banking Corp.

The minority shareholders, it said, had already expressed their intention to sell their shares. No purchase price was disclosed.

In 2007 ChinaBank bought the Puyat family’s 87.5-percent stake in Manila Bank for P1.75 billion, acquiring in the process the latter’s 75-branch franchise, of which 27 were open for business at the time of purchase.

ChinaBank wants to acquire all the remaining 12.5-percent interest of other shareholders.

By February last year, 26 operating Manila Bank branches had been fully integrated into the ChinaBank network.

The only one branch left, the one along Ayala Avenue in Makati City, was relaunched last year as ChinaBank Savings.

ChinaBank Savings opened two more branches in the last two months, one in Quezon City and another in Cebu, China Bank announced on its web site.

ChinaBank opened 28 new branches last year and aims to put up 40 more this year, including 10 ChinaBank Savings branches.

For the thrift-bank unit, the goal is to have 30 branches by 2010, offering deposit and consumer-loan products and trust services.

The parent bank now has 222 branches, having opened its sixth branch in Parañaque last month, which brought its network in Metro Manila to 127 branches.