The American International Group (AIG) had expressed its wish to reopen its tender for buyers of its Taiwan insurance arm Nan Shan Life, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) confirmed Monday.
AIG is in talks with three potential buyers: the Hong Kong-based Primus Financial Holdings Ltd., as well as the local financial companies China Trust Group and Fubon Financial. All three had bid on the last tender, which was won by a consortium led by Primus in 2009 for US$2.2 billion.
The FSC rejected the sale August, 2010, citing concerns with the consortium's unstable shareholder structure, its lack of experience in the field and its substantial commitment to the rights of current Nan Shan Life employees.
Speaking at a financial committee meeting at the Legislative Yuan, FSC Chairman Chen Yuh-chang (陳裕璋) said that the watchdog is still communicating with AIG to express its wish for the continual operation of Nan Shan by the American company.
The FSC will provide full support to Nan Shan and to protect the rights of its some 40,000 employees and 40-million policyholders, Chen stressed. If a sale is inevitable, Chen said he would also remind the new potential buyers to comply with the FSC review principles on their bids, which require the owner to value employee and policyholder's rights, to provide funds from legally allowed sources, to have professional capability to run insurance company, to have a long term business plan and to be financial qualified for future recapitalizations.
Some employees in the Taiwanese insurer worry that a handover may jeopardize their employment. Some also expressed concern that a change to an Asian owner may impact on the company's American management culture.
According to sources cited by the Economic Daily News, the sale of Nan Shan fit the AIG's policy to keep some of its property insurance business while selling its life insurance arm to pay back the U.S. government for a US$140 billion bailout.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/company-focus/2010/11/17/280153/AIG-to.htm
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AIG is off on a selling spree again, their Taiwan arm is next up on the auction block. I’m struggling to think of what else they could sell after Taiwan, they’ve pretty much cut to the bone in Asia as it is. Which you’d think is the last market they should be cutting in as that’s where the money is these days, though when you owe $140 billion to the US government, telling them you’re cutting back in North American operations isn’t going to happen, is it?
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