Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽) would inject NT$1.58 billion (US$55.66 million) into Wu Zi Asset Development Co (午資開發) to fund construction of a shopping mall near the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, the insurance company said on Monday.
It would be Taiwan Life’s second capital injection to Wu Zi after it provided the asset development firm with NT$495 million last year, the insurer said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Taiwan Life on Jan. 31 last year said that it planned to invest NT$6.21 billion in Wu Zi to fund construction of a shopping and entertainment complex near the stadium over the next few years.
Photo: CNA
Wu Zi, which has paid-in capital of NT$2.44 billion, is a Taichung-based special purpose vehicle that operates the stadium.
It has finished the domed Lilo Center banquet hall and parking lots at the site as part of a
rehabilitate-operate-transfer (ROT) contract with the Taichung City Government, and the new project is part of the same contract, Taiwan Life said in a statement.
Taiwan Life would maintain its 99 percent stake in Wu Zi following the cash injection, while Lee Ming Construction Co (麗明營造) has a 1 percent stake in the firm, it said.
Its investment in the shopping and entertainment complex is expected to generate long-term rental income, which traditionally plays an important role in the financial profile of a life insurer, Taiwan Life said.
It has invested a combined NT$26 billion in four build-and-operate (BOT) or ROT projects in Taichung, Yilan Country and Kaohsiung over the past few years, as the firm supports a government policy to encourage life insurers to channel funds into public construction, Taiwan Life said.
Cumulative investment from local life insures in public construction totals NT$16.7 billion since the beginning of last year, with Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) participating in a BOT project at the Nangang Bus Station (南港轉運站) in Taipei and Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) building facilities for National Taipei University, data from the companies showed.
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