Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) yesterday confirmed that Taiwan Financial Holding Co (台灣金控) expects to acquire Kuo Hua Life Insurance Co (國華人壽) this year.
The plan had become bogged down by legal barriers involving personnel hiring, but the government has rectified the problems and Taiwan Financial is ready for the proposed acquisition, Lee said in a report to the legislature’s Finance Committee.
“We hope to complete the acquisition by the year end,” Taiwan Financial chairwoman Susan Chang (張秀蓮) told a media briefing.
BankTaiwan Life Insurance Co (台銀人壽), a life insurance subsidiary of Taiwan Financial with about 500 employees, plans to merge with Kuo Hua, taking on more than 2,800 employees from Kuo Hua.
Kuo Hua is currently controlled by the Insurance Stabilization Fund. BankTaiwan Life has to pay the fund between NT$60 billion (US$2.04 billion) and NT$70 billion to cover Kuo Hua’s losses, Chang said.
Chang said she was confident that BankTaiwan Life would benefit from the deal.
Among the 2,800 Kuo Hua employees, 1,100 office staff would be hired as temporary workers and another 1,700 field staff would retain their salaries as they don’t have base pay, Chang said.
BankTaiwan Life’s labor union staged a protest outside the meeting yesterday, saying they don’t want the company to buy a lossmaking firm like Kuo Hua.
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