以個案分析觀點探討富邦金併購安泰人壽

Abstract

In Taiwan, since the Financial Institutions Merger Law was passed in the year of 2000, a lot of mergers of financial institutions have been seen and financial holding companies are becoming larger and larger. In September 2008, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, followed by the financial tsunami. At this time, Fubon Financial Holdings Co. acquired ING Life Taiwan, which shocked Taiwan’s financial market. This transaction was originally regarded as a good deal for Fubon because it bought ING Life Taiwan cheaply during the crisis. However, many people also worry that there might be an unexploded bomb behind ING Life Taiwan and Fubon will be the victim. Thus, this study will analyze this acquisition through case study. The purpose is to explore if this transaction is reasonable and who gains benefit in this deal. The conclusion of this study is that international accounting standards play a vital role in this acquisition. The reason why the parent company of ING Life Taiwan chooses to sell it is that the counting standard used in Europe is much stricter than that in Taiwan. The large amount of reserves required result in the fact that ING Life Taiwan’s profit can’t go back to its parent company. Therefore, to ING’s parent company, selling its Taiwan subsidiary enables it to not only release large amount of reserves but also gain NT $200 million from Fubon. This is a quite smart decision during the financial crisis. On the other hand, to Fubon, what makes it happy is that it can increase its market share quickly but what worries it is the high interest rate guaranteed insurance contacts that ING Life Taiwan previously sold and the fact that Taiwan might adopt IFRS 4 earlier than expected. Judging from current situation, this transaction is a win-win strategy, but regarding the future, it will be like a gamble. If Taiwan delays adopting IFRS 4 and the economic situation turns good, Fubon will definitely be the winner. By contrast, if the financial environment is not advantageous to Fubon, it has to absorb the poison that ING Life Taiwan gave it.