TAIPEI -(Dow Jones)- Taiwan's Cathay Financial Holding Co. (2882.TW) said Thursday it will evaluate potential acquisition targets, in response to a newspaper report that it is among the companies considering an investment in American International Group Inc.'s (AIG) Taiwanese life-insurance unit.
Cathay Financial, the island's largest listed financial group by assets, didn't say in a statement if the AIG unit, Nan Shan Life Insurance Co., is an acquisition target.
Cathay's Chief Strategy Officer C.K. Lee wasn't available for comment Thursday.
The Chinese-language Economic Daily News said Thursday that Cathay Financial, Chinatrust Financial Holding Co., Fubon Financial Holding Co., SinoPac Financial Holdings Co., and Mega Financial Holding Co. are interested in Nan Shan. The paper didn't cite sources.
Nan Shan's Taiwan spokeswoman April Pan said Thursday AIG, which owns 95% of Nan Shan, plans to sell part of the stake but retain management control.
"That's what we have been told by our head office and this hasn't changed," Pan said, but she declined to say if Nan Shan is in talks with any potential investor.
A Shin Kong Financial investor-relations official said the company's position is unchanged since President Victor Hsu said Nov. 6 it has no plans to invest in Nan Shan, Taiwan's second-largest life insurer by gross premiums after Cathay Life Insurance Co.
Cathay Life is wholly owned by Cathay Financial.
Fubon Financial, which said in late October it will pay US$600 million for ING Groep NV's Taiwan life insurance unit, said on Nov. 8 it will evaluate any appropriate investment target. A Fubon public relations official said Thursday that stance hasn't changed.
Chinatrust Financial's Chief Investment Officer Daniel IK Wu, SinoPac's spokesman Ted Liao and Mega Financial spokesman Simon Dzeng weren't immediately available for comment.
-By Perris Lee Choon Siong, Dow Jones Newswires; +8862-2502-2557; perris.lee@ dowjones.com
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11-13-08 0456ET
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