Taikang Life Completes Int'l Private PlacementTaikang Life, China's fifth largest life insurance company, has completed a year-long international private placement.The company's new foreign shareholders are Winterthur Life & Pensions (WLP), The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and Japan's Softbank, all world-class financial power houses. Company Chairman and CEO, Chen Dongsheng, announced Tuesday that the foreign shareholders will buy a total of two million shares of his company, amounting for 25 percent of its total shares. The company's capital will reach 2 billion yuan after the placement is completed, he said. Chen declined to specify the shares of each company and the price of the shares. The international private placement was approved by the Chinese State Council and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission in September 1999. "This important action by China to open its insurance sector to foreign competition provides a huge opportunity for both Taikang and its foreign shareholders. It is a win-win choice," Chen said. The chairman claimed the alliance with major international financial institutions in itself outlined a bright future for his company. The foreign shareholders have indicated that they will work with the Chinese shareholders to build Taikang into a flagship company in China's insurance sector, he said. As part of the strategic alliance, the foreign shareholders will provide comprehensive assistance to Taikang in technology, staff training and e-commerce. They will also send their experts to Taikang for a diagnosis of the company and make their recommendations for varying degrees of reform measures, he said. Speaking on the occasion, WLP CEO M. Dennler pointed out, "China currently has one of the most rapidly expanding PFS (personal financial service) markets in the world." He stressed that the alliance with Taikang is a "valuable addition" to the global profile and activities of Credit Suisse Group, WLP's parent company. |
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