Citigroup Inc and Fubon Financial Holding Co (
"While our joint businesses with Fubon Financial have been successful, both companies' strategies for participating in the property and casualty insurance sector in the Taiwan and Asian markets have evolved," Robert Morse, chief executive officer of Citigroup Global Corporate and Investment Banking Group, Asia Pacific, said in the joint statement.
"With great respect for each other, we have therefore agreed that it is time for our companies to pursue our separate growth strategies in the region," Morse added.
Citigroup plans to initially sell into the public markets approximately 70 million shares, or 0.8 percent, of Fubon. The world's biggest financial services company then will consider the divestiture of all or part of its remaining Fubon shares, the statement said.
"The pull-out was mainly due to differences in operating and shareholding strategies," said Victor Kung (
There is no timetable for the completion of Citigroup's disposal of its stake, said Kung. He declined to comment on whether the US investment bank asked to buy a majority stake in Fubon, or whether there are any other buyers for the stake.
"Fubon Financial and Citigroup will continue to seek ways to cooperate as we each pursue independent growth opportunities that reflect th evolving marketplace and our respective strategies," Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Richard Tsai (蔡明興), co-chief executive officers of Fubon, said in the statement.
"Citigroup's pull-out is disappointing," said Kenny Lu, a fund manager at AIG Securities Investment & Trust Co in Taipei. "Fubon failed to deliver its strategy to bring in foreign expertise and to enhance future profitability by introducing strategic foreign investor."
In 2000, Citigroup paid NT$23 billion (US$691 million) for a 15 percent stake in Fubon Financial, previously known as Fubon Group before its formation as a financial holding company in 2001. Citigroup's stake was diluted to about 10 percent in 2002 when Fubon issued new shares to buy rival TaipeiBank (
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last