BOUSTEAD IN MOVE TO TAKE OVER R&SA INTEREST IN MALAYSIA

Fast-growing Malaysian conglomerate Boustead has said that it will be acquiring a 45% stake in non-life operation Royal & SunAlliance Insurance Malaysia from The London Assurance. Boustead told the Malaysian Stock Exchange late yesterday that the proposed acquisition would entail a payment of 148.8m ringgit ($43.1m) for 48.3m shares, giving Boustead an 80% stake in the company. Completion is scheduled for the fourth quarter. Boustead group managing director Lodin Wok Kamaruddin said that Boustead would “focus on aggressively growing Royal & Sun Alliance's market share in this country in terms of bolstering its marketing and operational efficiencies. In the long term, we expect this business segment to become a significant contributor to our finance division”. Boustead’s flagship financial operation in Malaysia is Affin Bank, which has a locally based life assurance joint venture with France’s AXA.