Fubon Financial Holding Co (2881.TW) is planning to take a cash offer for its entire stake in Delta Lloyd (DLL.AS) from NN Group (NN.AS) amid concerns about the outlook for the two Dutch insurers’ merger.
The move follows Delta Lloyd’s agreement to be taken over by its larger rival NN after NN nudged up its earlier unsolicited offer by 1.9 percent to 2.5 billion euros ($2.61 billion).
Fubon, the parent company of Taiwan’s second-biggest life insurer, said it would accept the offer even though it would result in a loss of about 90 million euros. “The synergies remain unknown as NN Group faces the uncertainty of problems associated with completing the merger,” it said in a statement late on Thursday.
“So we’d like to cash in our stake now to avoid that uncertainty.”
Fubon is a major stakeholder of Delta Lloyd, although the company declined to say exactly how many shares it owned.
Delta Lloyd missed market forecasts in February for its full-year profit and said its solvency had fallen towards the bottom of its target range.
Fubon stocks were down 0.6 percent at about 0325 GMT, trailing the broader markets.TWII 0.1 percent dip.
Source: Reuters.com