SWISS RE BUYS 25% STAKE IN VINARE FOR $79M

Swiss Re has become the chosen partner of Vietnam National Reinsurance (Vinare), paying 1.3tn dong ($79m) for a 25% stake in the company. Last October Vinare engaged investment bank NM Rothschild & Sons to help it in the search for strategic investors. At the time, Vinare chairman Tring Quang Tuyen said that the reinsurer planned to raise the equivalent of $99m. Last year the company had revenues equalling $49.4m, with anticipated growth of 8% in 2007. It employs about 60 staff. Swiss Re noted that it had established a business relationship with Vinare over the previous decade. Under the new agreement, Swiss Re will offer technical assistance across all lines of business. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval. Vinare was incorporated as a joint stock company in January 2005. It currently has about 34% of the country’s reinsurance business, with a dominant 59% share of the non-life reinsurance sector.