Re-insurer acquisition named ‘Best Vietnam Deal 2008’

Swiss Re’s US$79 million acquisition of a 25-percent stake in the Viet Nam National Reinsurance Corporation (VinaRe) has been named the Best Viet Nam Deal in 2008 by Finance Asia, a Hong Kong-based publication that presents annual achievement awards in the region.

The globally recognised awards commemorate ‘deals’ including equity offerings, mergers and acquisitions or bond issuance on Asian stock markets.

The Swiss Re acquisition was notable for being the first major strategic investment by a global player in Vietnam’s reinsurance sector, the magazine said.

“Swiss Re, a global reinsurer operating in 25 countries, had a business relationship with VinaRe for more than a decade, but that relationship expanded to include Swiss Re offering the Vietnamese company technical assistance in all its businesses, with a focus on further enhancing its reinsurance capabilities,” wrote the magazine.

According to Finance Asia, the deal also helped solidify Credit Suisse’s position as the leading investment bank in Viet Nam.

The magazine also noted the participation of the legal advisors for the deal, which included the local firm, Vision Law, and the foreign law firm Russin & Vecchi.

Recognition as Best Viet Nam Deal 2008 should also help promote the domestic reinsurance market to overseas investors, VinaRe said on its website.

In addition to the Swiss Re-VinaRe deal in Viet Nam, the magazine also recognised Chinalco’s US$14 billion acquisition of Rio Tinto in China, Estisalat’s US$900 million acquisition of Swan Telecom in India, and Petronas’ US$2.5 billion acquisition of the Gladstone LNG project in Malaysia. (VNS)