TSAI ENG MENG SNATCHES UNION INSURANCE FROM NEWBRIDGE’S GRASP

The board of Taiwan-based Union Insurance has agreed to sell a 75% stake in the company to an investment fund headed by Tsai Eng Meng, head of locally based Want Want Holdings, for NT$1.5bn ($45.8m). Mr Tsai’s last-minute move saw him outbid San Francisco-based buyout company Newbridge Capital, according to Union Insurance executive Kenny Ching. The Tsai-led investment fund will buy 150m newly issued Union Insurance shares for NT$10 each. The deal will close in mid-August, at which point Mr Tsai will have the right to appoint a new management team. He may also consider further fundraising, Mr Ching said. Union Insurance is currently part of troubled locally based Rebar Group, and saw its rating downgraded earlier in the year, mainly because of loan defaults by fellow Rebar Group members. Union Insurance signed a memorandum of understanding with Newbridge to sell about US$100m in new shares to a consortium led by Newbridge and which included Swiss Re. Mr Ching observed that the Newbridge offer was at the same price as the Tsai-led consortium’s, but that other financial terms made the Newbridge bid less attractive.