Taiwan FSC: Wrong Time For China Strategic To Bring In Chinatrust
TAIPEI -(Dow Jones)- The consortium led by China Strategic Holdings Ltd. (
0235.HK) shouldn't have agreed to sell a stake in Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. to
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. (2891.TW) before its acquisition of Nan Shan
receives Taiwan's regulatory approval, Lu Ting-chieh, secretary general of
Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission, said Friday.
"The timing was wrong, and the whole arrangement was just very crude, which
has put the credibility of the China Strategic consortium in question," Lu said.
"It totally complicates the approval process."
Lu was referring to a plan by Hong Kong-based China Strategic to sell 30% of
Nan Shan to Chinatrust in exchange for a 9.95% stake in Chinatrust, the island's
largest bancassurance services provider with a 30% market share.
Chinatrust announced the deal Tuesday around a month after American
International Group Inc. (AIG) agreed to sell its 97.5%-owned Nan Shan to the
China Strategic-led consortium for US$2.15 billion.
The Investment Commission, which vets all inbound and outbound investments,
turned down the consortium's application to acquire Nan Shan earlier this month
and told it to submit more documents.
After receiving approval from the Investment Commission, the consortium
comprising China Strategic and Primus Financial Holdings Ltd. will need to
receive approval from the financial regulator before the deal can be completed.
-By Perris Lee Choon Siong, Dow Jones Newswires; +8862-2502-2557; perris.lee@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-19-092201ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
|