The Investment Commission said yesterday it could need more time to review the re-submission of Hong Kong’s China Strategic Holdings Ltd (中策集團) application to acquire Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽).
A consortium led by China Strategic filed its second application with the commission late on Tuesday on its acquisition of American International Group Inc’s Taiwanese insurance unit.
Reviews are done on a case-by-case basis, and sometime the commission can approve an application in one to two days if it’s a “small” application, while some submissions may take one to two months to review, commission head Fan Liang-tung (范良棟) said by telephone.
It was difficult to gauge the timeframe needed for the Nan Shan acquisition because it was complicated and because it has to be reviewed by a number of other agencies — the Financial Supervisory Commission, which regulates the financial and insurance sectors, the Mainland Affairs Council because of the possible involvement of Chinese capital, and the Council of Labor Affairs regarding employees’ rights, he said.
After gauging the opinion of these agencies, the commission will meet to make a decision, Fan said, adding that officials might have to ask for additional supporting documents if necessary.
The consortium won the bid for Nan Shan in October with US$2.15 billion and filed an acquisition application with the commission in early November. The commission later told the consortium to resubmit its application and provide more information on its sources of funding and investors.
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