Waterland Financial Holdings Co (國票金控) said yesterday that it would acquire MetLife Inc’s insurance business in Taiwan for US$112.5 million (NT$3.5 billion) in cash, pending approval by the financial regulator.
At an extraordinary board meeting yesterday, Waterland Financial, the nation’s smallest financial holding firm, approved a resolution to purchase all the shares of US-based MetlLife’s insurance wing in Taiwan as part of an effort to expand business and increase profits in Taiwan.
The financial firm said that the rights and interests of the insured and all the employees of the 21-year-old insurance company would be guaranteed following the acquisition, adding that salaries and benefits would not be lowered from current levels for two years.
“This is just a change in the shareholding structure. The rights and interests of our insurance policies will remain unchanged,” Waterland Financial chairman Steven Hung (洪三雄) told a media briefing yesterday.
Hung said the acquisition of the insurance company would be closed by cash, adding that the money would come from last year’s profits of about NT$1.7 billion (US$52.3 million) and NT$3 billion in bank loans.
Waterland Financial said that in the initial stage it would respect the original management model at the insurance company and seek to communicate as much as possible to ensure a smooth merging of the foreign firm’s operations and local corporate culture.
The insurance company, which entered the Taiwanese market in 2003, said it had about 400,000 local policyholders with approximately 1 million effective policies, adding that its insurance products are sold mainly over the telephone or through bankassurance channels.
Jack Mong (孟子文), vice president of MetLife Taiwan (大都會人壽), told reporters that before the regulator gives the go-ahead to the acquisition, US-based parent MetLife would continue to provide financial support.
Mong added that a new chairperson would be nominated after the deal receives approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission.
Asked why MetLife decided to sell its Taiwan insurance assets, Mong said the firm had experienced operating challenges because of changes in the investment environment and thus failed to achieve the goals its mother company set for international investment.
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