The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday approved a grace period of about 27 months for China Development Financial Holding Corp (CDFHC, 中華開發金控) in its acquisition of China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽).
Under the commission’s new requirement, the company must complete the deal before June 13, 2022, when its board members’ terms expire, it said.
“We appreciate that the government allowed us to delay fully acquiring China Life and we will act accordingly,” the firm said.
The commission is requiring the firm to report any progress in the deal once per quarter, Banking Bureau Deputy Director Sherri Chuang (莊琇媛) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
CDFHC would need to raise new funds to pay for the full acquisition, which is likely to cost NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion) based on the company’s estimate in January, Chuang said.
“For the sake of the company’s financial stability, we do not want to see it borrow a significant amount of money to close the deal. We will keep an eye out for which financial tool it uses,” she said.
Raising new capital by issuing new common shares would be a safer option, she said, adding that the company could decide when to begin buying shares from China Life shareholders, she added.
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