MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co (明台產險), a local non-life insurance arm of Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings Inc (MSIG), said yesterday its parent company’s acquisition of two small rivals would soon create synergy at home and globally.
“After MSIG becomes the world’s seventh-largest insurance group, the parent company’s support to our local subsidiary will increase,” Jerro Cheng (鄭振榮), a vice president of Mingtai Insurance, said by telephone yesterday.
He said, however, that any new relocation of personnel or resources would depend on the completion of the parent company’s merger in April.
PLAN
MSIG said it would acquire Mingtai Insurace in 2005 to tap into the local market — an acquisition that it only completed early this year.
MSIG, the second-largest non-life insurer in Japan, said in a press statement yesterday that it had agreed to acquire Aioi Insurance Co and Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co — the fourth and the sixth-largest non-life insurers in Japan respectively — in a share swap.
Starting in April, one share of Aioi Insurance or Nissay Dowa will swap for 0.19 MSIG shares, the company said in the statement, adding that the group would then be renamed MS and AD Insurance Group, while becoming the world’s seventh-largest non-life insurance company.
After the merger is completed, MSIG’s global workforce will increase from 21,000 to 35,000.
SYNERGY
After the expansion, the group intends to create a synergy of between ¥40 billion (US$440.2 million) and ¥50 billion in 2013.
“The expanded group will focus on a strategic management of both its life and non-life insurance businesses as well as financial services to boost revenues while cultivating professionals for our strategic partners,” Toshiaki Egashira, president and CEO of MSIG, said in a statement.
“To our policyholders, the expanded group will continue to place a priority on enhancing the quality of or services to them,” he said.
Cheng said Aioi has a liaison office in Taiwan, but whether the parent company would close that office had yet to be determined.
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
RSS