<article>Taiwanese insurance firm <a style="color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;" href="https://www.cathaylife.com.tw/bc/web/eng/index.html" target="_blank">Cathay Life Insurance Co (Cathay Life)</a> has announced that it will be acquiring a 40 per cent stake in Indonesia’s <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.bankmayapada.com/" target="_blank">PT Bank Mayapada International Tbk</a> for NT$8.7 billion or IDR3.52 trillion ($271.83 million).</article>

Taiwanese insurance firm <a style="color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;" href="https://www.cathaylife.com.tw/bc/web/eng/index.html" target="_blank">Cathay Life Insurance Co (Cathay Life)</a> has announced that it will be acquiring a 40 per cent stake in Indonesia’s <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.bankmayapada.com/" target="_blank">PT Bank Mayapada International Tbk</a> for NT$8.7 billion or IDR3.52 trillion ($271.83 million).
Last month, Cathay Life made an announcement to <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/cathay-life-rcbc-forge-381-7m-deal/" target="_blank">buy a 20 per cent stake in the Philippines-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation</a> for NT$12.55 billion ($400 million).
The firm, which is the life insurance arm of <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.cathayholdings.com/" target="_blank">Cathay Financial Holdings Company</a> Ltd, will complete the stake acquisition in Bank Mayapada, in two stages &#8211; initially acquiring a 24.9 per cent stake and then the remaining 15.1 per cent would be bought later, subject to final approval by the<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.ojk.go.id/en" target="_blank"> Indonesian Financial Services Authority</a>.
“The first stage of the acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of the year,” Cathay Financial president Lee Chang-ken said at a press conference.&#8221;Upon completing the first stage of acquisition, Cathay Life will obtain three out of the 11 board seats in Bank Mayapada.&#8221;
Cathay Life said it was interested in the Indonesian Bank because of the latter’s stable returns and growth prospects, against the backdrop of Indonesia’s economic acceleration.
Lee noted that the country expected a gross domestic product growth at a compound annual rate of six per cent during the next three years. At the group level, Cathay Financial sees opportunities for the insurance unit and the bank to collaborate.
After the Cathay’s plan was made public yesterday, Bank Mayapada’s shares climbed over 10 per cent from IDR1,985 to IDR2,000.
The banking group was founded by Indonesian billionaire Dato Sri Tahir. It&#8217;s total assets amount to $2.5 billion as at September 30, 2014, with an average return on equity of 14.7 per cent. The bank focuses on corporate lending, with most of its 175 branches located in major cities in the Indonesian archipelago.
The acquisition pointed to Taiwanese financial firms’ interest in expanding beyond the home market. Cathay Financial is Taiwan’s largest financial services provider by listed assets and has been aggressively looking beyond the domestic market for growth in the Southeast Asian region.

Taiwanese insurance firm Cathay Life Insurance Co (Cathay Life) has will be acquiring a 40% in Indonesia’s PT Bank Mayapada International Tbk for $271.83m

Cathay Life to buy 40% stake in Bank Mayapada

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Cathay Life to buy 40% stake in Bank Mayapada

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