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10 firms submit bids for AIG’s Taiwanese life insurance division

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:July 4, 2009

Private equity firms Carlyle Group and Primus Capital are among the bidders for AIG’s Taiwanese life insurance division, in a deal that could raise up to $2bn for the seller, according to reports.

The official auction for the Taiwan unit reportedly began in mid-June, and AIG is said to want between $1.8bn and $2bn for the company.

AIG put Nan Shan and a number of other Asian units up for sale earlier this year, but the sales were suspended while the firm and the US government agreed on new aid terms.

JC Flowers & Co and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co are both rumoured to be interested in Nan Shan, as are financial services groups Fubon Financial, Chinatrust Financial and Cathay Financial.

The bids for Nan Shan ranged from $1.7 billion to $2.5 billion, with AIG expected to make a decision on the buyer in August or September, the Economic Daily News and the Commercial Times said.

AIG wants to shed some of its global assets to repay the U.S. government after a bailout totaling about $180 billion.

Earlier this year, it sold its Taiwan securities unit to Hong Kong-listed Bank of East Asia and agreed to sell its credit card and accounts-receivable business to small Taiwanese lender Far Eastern International Bank.

If AIG sells Nan Shan, it will not be the first foreign firm to sell insurance units in Taiwan.

Last October, Holland’s ING Groep sold its insurance unit to Fubon for $600 million, while Britain’s Prudential got rid of its Taiwan operation to Taipei-based China Life earlier this year.

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