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Updated Saturday, July 4, 2009 12:05 am TWN, The China Post news staff and Bloomberg

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Nine possible buyers for Nan Shan Life including

Besides the above-mentioned private equity funds, it was speculated five other parties have submitted their letters of intent, including the I-Mei Group, the Ruentex Group, Cathay Financial Holding, Fubon Financial Holding, and Chinatrust Financial Holding.

The possible nine bidders only completed the very first step of the auction. As they all signed notes of confidentiality, their names will not be revealed until the official bidding stage begins.

After yesterday's submission of letters of intent, the bidders will have to conduct field works and speak with various people in Nan Shan's management. This will take about two to three months, analysts said, adding the final bidders will be no more than five.

Of the possible bidders, Chinatrust Financial would benefit the most from the acquisition, industry analysts said, since it does not have an insurance unit under it. China Life, a life insurer, is a family business of the Koos and is not a firm listed under Chinatrust Financial.

At the same time, since Chinatrust does not have an insurance unit, most Nan Shan workers would have their jobs secured, analysts said. Things would be different if Nan Shan was bought by Cathay or Fubon, which already has an insurance unit, they said.

For Cathay, acquiring Nan Shan may not be all that important since it is No. 1 in the insurance market already, analysts said. Cathay Life already has total asset of NT$2.38 trillion, double the NT$1.5 trillion of Nan Shan. With Cathay United Bank's NT$1.349 trillion, Cathay Financial has total asset of NT$3.7 trillion, a figure hard to be surpassed.

For Fubon, buying Nan Shan would directly challenge Cathay's position to be No. 1 in the insurance industry. After buying ING Life, Fubon's life insurance unit has nearly NT$1 trillion in total asset. Analysts are now watching whether Fubon has enough cash at hand to purchase Nan Shan, they said.

Ruentex's head Yin Yen-liang, meanwhile, had held stakes in a major life insurance firm before and has his connections in the insurance circle. However, it is expected the FSC will still favor the sale to a financial-related group. Ruentex is a construction group.

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