Fubon Financial Holding Co’s (富邦金控) life insurance arm has acquired a controlling stake in a South Korean peer, allowing it to tap further into the market and Asia as a whole, it said yesterday.
Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) has raised its stake in Hyundai Life Insurance Co from 48 percent to 62 percent and won a majority of seats on the board, Fubon Financial said.
“That would give Fubon Financial management rights in the South Korean insurer, which has been renamed Fubon Hyundai Life Insurance Co (富邦現代人壽),” Fubon Financial chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興) said.
Photo: Liao Chien-ying, Taipei Times
Before the purchase, Fubon Life was the second-largest shareholder after Hyundai Group and held five seats on the board.
The move is in line with the financial conglomerate’s ambition to grow into a first-tier player in the region, Tsai said.
To that end, Fubon Financial would look for more cooperation opportunities abroad to expand its business map, he said.
Fubon Hyundai Life broke even in the first half of the year and could become profitable after joining the group, Fubon Financial said.
Fubon Hyundai Life would maintain its focus, which is on telemarketing and retirement-related businesses, and leverage Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank’s (台北富邦銀行) sales channels to boost bancassurance, the conglomerate said.
Fubon Hyundai Life aims to increase its product offers and better serve South Korean customers, while seeking to improve earnings ability through prudent investment and risk management, Fubon Financial said.
Fubon Life generated 62.36 percent of Fubon Financial’s overall profits in the first eight months of the year, while Taipei Fubon Bank accounted for 29.88 percent, company data showed.
Shares in Fubon Financial edged up 0.4 percent to NT$50.1 in Taipei trading yesterday, less than the TAIEX’s 1.31 percent increase, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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