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)

AAA insurer buys 50% stake into Hung Dai Duong Co

Friday, June 20, 2008
AAA Insurance Joint Stock Co recently signed a strategic partnership contract to buy back 50% stake into Hung Dai Duong Co to set up a joint venture named AAA-Hung Dai Duong Joint Stock Co.

Hung Dai Duong specialises in fields of Granite mining and processing.

The joint venture will increase the mining and processing capacity of Hung Dai Duong by five times.

HSBC sells insurance, seeks additional Vietnam insurer

Thursday, May 15, 2008
HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank by market value, plans to start selling life insurance next month through a joint venture in India.

The venture, owned with Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, is licensed to sell eight life-insurance and savings products and is “going very well,” Clive Bannister, HSBC’s London-based head of insurance, said.

The bank, which bought a 10% stake in Viet Nam’s Bao Viet Insurance & Finance Group in September for US$255 million, will use its option to buy an additional 8% in the biggest state-owned insurer by June 2009, he said.

HSBC has a target of gaining 20% of earnings from insurance “over time,” said Bannister.

The division contributed pretax profit of $3.1 billion or 13% of earnings last year, compared with 10 (Bloomberg)

Vien Dong insurance firm releases background

Thursday, May 15, 2008
Vien Dong Insurance Joint Stock Co (VASS) has joined the non-life insurance market since 2004 with a chartered capital of 72 billion dong and that is now 300 billion dong. VASS's shareholders include many potential and prestigious monetary commercial institutions like Saigon Thuong Tin Joint Stock Commercial Bank (Sacombank), Oriental Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Military Bank, Hanoi Building Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Habubank), HCM City Securities Co and Vietfund and Lam Son Sugar and Sugarcane Co.

So far, VASS with the headquarters in HCM City has provided its over 50 insurance service packages to 33 provinces nationwide and launched 24 branches, 45 customer service offices and over 2,500 agents through out the country.

In order to improve its competitive capacity, VASS has cooperated with many non-life and life groups such as Vietnam National Reinsurance Co (Vinare), Liberty Mutual, Aon Re, Lioyd's London, Munich Re and Pacific International.

Last year, VASS' revenue from insurance service reached 167.5 billion dong, an over two fold increase against 2006 and 35.8 billion dong from pre tax profit and that could be 246.8 billion dong and 84 billion dong respectively within this year.

In 2008, the company targets to double its chartered capital to 600 billion dong from the current of 300 billion dong.

On the OTC market, VASS' shares are being traded ranging between 17,000 dong and 18,000 dong per share.

Petrolimex insurance buys 5 pct of 500,000 Vipco shares

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Viet Nam Petroleum Transport said Petrolimex Insurance, one of its major shareholders, bought only 25,730 of the 500,000 shares it had registered to buy.
The transport and ship repair company, known as Vipco, said Petrolimex Insurance had bought about 5% of what it had promised because the volume of Vipco shares being traded was too low during the March 6 to April 6 buying window.
The insurer’s share purchases raised its stake in Vipco to 5.79% from 5.74%, Vipco announced through the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange’s website.
The UK-based Amersham Industries Limited, another major Vipco shareholder with a 10.88% stake, canceled the sale of 3,524,000 Vipco shares, according to a report on the exchange’s website on April 16.
Vipco shares gained VND500, or 1.72%, to close at VND29,500 on Friday.

Petrolimex insurance buys 5 pct of 500,000 Vipco shares

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Viet Nam Petroleum Transport said Petrolimex Insurance, one of its major shareholders, bought only 25,730 of the 500,000 shares it had registered to buy.
The transport and ship repair company, known as Vipco, said Petrolimex Insurance had bought about 5% of what it had promised because the volume of Vipco shares being traded was too low during the March 6 to April 6 buying window.
The insurer’s share purchases raised its stake in Vipco to 5.79% from 5.74%, Vipco announced through the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange’s website.
The UK-based Amersham Industries Limited, another major Vipco shareholder with a 10.88% stake, canceled the sale of 3,524,000 Vipco shares, according to a report on the exchange’s website on April 16.
Vipco shares gained VND500, or 1.72%, to close at VND29,500 on Friday.