Taiwan will probe if the buyer of the local unit of American International Group has violated a long-term investment commitment by speedily selling on part of the company, an official said Friday.
In October, AIG announced a Hong Kong-based consortium including China Strategic Holdings had agreed to buy Taiwan-based Nan Shan Life for 2.15 billion US dollars, pending regulatory approval.
But even before Taiwanese regulators had given the green light for the deal, the consortium announced this week a decision to sell a 30-percent stake in Nan Shan to Taipei-based Chinatrust Financial Holding.
In return, China Strategic will get a 9.95 percent stake in Chinatrust Financial.
“The move to introduce Chinatrust Financial into the deal has complicated the transaction,” chief secretary of Financial Supervisory Commission Lu Ting-chieh said.
“We will look into whether the buyer has broken its promise to operate Nan Shan Life as a long-term investment,” Lu told AFP.
In a statement issued in October, AIG chief executive Robert Benmosche said the Hong Kong consortium had pledged to “continue Nan Shan’s commitment to its policy holders, agents, and employees, as well as to the people of Taiwan.”
Taiwan’s Investment Commission, which is in charge of reviewing foreign investment applications, said Thursday it has returned China Strategic’s application to buy Nan Shan Life, saying more documentation was needed.
“The Nan Shan deal matters to a great number of insurance policy holders in Taiwan. The resale agreement with Chinatrust Financial has raised concerns over the interest of the Nan Shan customers,” Lu said.
Nan Shan Life was established in 1963, and now has a network of 24 branches and 450 agency offices, employing a staff of 4,000 and more than 34,000 agents.
As of September 2009, it had four million customers.
