Citigroup to Pare A Tie in Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Citigroup Inc. said it would begin withdrawing from one of its highest-profile Asian alliances, selling some, and perhaps all, of its nearly $800 million stake in Taiwan's Fubon Financial Holding Co.
The announcement follows widespread speculation about the future of the four-year partnership between Citigroup and Fubon, which was perceived as troubled during the past few years. In a joint statement yesterday, Citigroup and Fubon said they had decided to "pursue separate growth strategies" because their strategies have "evolved significantly" since the original deal was announced.
The two sides agreed in May 2000 that the U.S. financial giant would buy a 15% stake in what was then Fubon Group for about $750 million. The deal -- which was negotiated personally by Citigroup Chairman Sanford Weill and the Tsai brothers who run Fubon, Daniel Tsai and Richard Tsai -- was to have involved broad cooperation in their businesses in Taiwan and expansion into other Asian markets in the insurance business.
The announcement marks a reversal for one of Citigroup's most important markets. Asia, including Japan, accounted for $864 million of Citigroup's $5.27 billion in first-quarter net profit, the largest of any region outside North America, which still accounts for the bulk of its business. Citigroup has doubled its assets and revenue in Asia in the past five years, said Citigroup spokeswoman Penny Shone, and it has moved aggressively this year to further its expansion, paying $2.6 billion to buy South Korea's KorAm Bank Co.
Citigroup, whose Fubon stake has been diluted by new share issuance to 10.2%, said it intends to sell about 70 million shares, or 0.8% of the Taiwan company's total shares, and relinquish its seat on Fubon's board. It said it is "considering the divestiture of all or part" of its remaining stake after the initial sale, but didn't give a timetable. Victor Kung, Fubon's chief financial officer, said his company expects Citigroup to sell its entire stake "expeditiously."
The two companies will continue to sell each other's products, and to cooperate on a small insurance joint-venture in Hong Kong. Citigroup's total current stake in Fubon was valued at about $775 million based on Monday's closing share price.
At the time of its announcement, the Citigroup-Fubon deal was the U.S. company's biggest investment in Asia outside Japan, and one of the largest foreign equity investments ever made in Taiwan. Citigroup dubbed the arrangement a "powerful strategic partnership," and Mr. Weill, who traveled to the island to unveil the deal, trumpeted it as a way to enable Citigroup to expand its insurance operations into Asia. The companies said they would focus on Southeast Asia and China.
By late 2002, executives from both sides realized the alliance wasn't working out as planned, said Mr. Kung, the Fubon CFO. The companies had little success in their effort to establish insurance joint ventures elsewhere in Asia. In August 2002 Citigroup spun off its global property and casualty-insurance operations, eliminating a business that was to be a central part of its cooperation with Fubon.
Fubon, meanwhile, expanded its own banking operations, putting it increasingly in competition with Citibank, Taiwan's biggest foreign bank in terms of assets. Mr. Kung said the two sides discussed various ways to reshape their partnership, including a full merger of their banking operations in Taiwan, and the possibility of Citigroup increasing its stake in Fubon. "Both sides worked very hard to find a new means of cooperation," he said. "But we were unable to find a new solution."
花旗集团逐渐解除与富邦金控的联盟关系
花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)日前表示，花旗集团将开始著手从其在亚洲地区最受瞩目的合作关系中抽身，出售其在台湾企业富邦金融控股股份有限公司(Fubon Financial Holding Co., 简称：富邦金控)近8亿美元持股中的部分、甚或全部持股。
在此之前，市场上有关二者4年来合作关系未来将何去何从的流言满天飞，人们感觉二者间的合作关系在过去几年中出了问题。花旗集团和富邦金控在昨天发表的联合声明中称，由于自最初交易宣布以来双方的策略均已“大大向前发展”，因而双方已决定“分别追求各自的成长策略”。
双方于2000年5月份达成协议，花旗集团以约7.5亿美元的价格收购当时还是富邦集团(Fubon Group)的富邦金控15%的股权。交易的谈判由花旗集团董事长Sanford Weill和富邦金控掌门人蔡氏兄弟亲自主持。交易涉及到双方就在台业务开展广泛合作，并联手拓展亚洲其他保险市场的内容。
此番发表的声明标志著世界最大的金融服务公司花旗在其最为重要的市场之一所发生的策略上的根本转变。在花旗集团第一财政季度52.7亿美元的净利润中，亚洲地区（包括日本在内）占到8.64亿美元，在其北美之外其余所有地区中排名第一。北美地区目前依然在花旗集团业务中占据最重要的权重。据花旗集团发言人Penny Shone透露，过去5年中花旗集团在亚洲地区的资产和收入均增长1倍，花旗集团今年亦积极采取行动以图进一步拓展亚洲业务，为此支付26亿美元收购韩国企业KorAm Bank Co.。
由于发行新股，花旗集团在富邦金控的持股比例目前已稀释至10.2%。花旗集团称，公司打算出售大约7,000万股股票（占富邦金控总股本的0.8%），并放弃在富邦金控董事会中的席位。花旗集团还表示正在考虑在最初的出售后剥离所余持股的全部或一部分。但该公司没有提供具体的时间进度安排。富邦金控财务长龚天行(Victor Kung)称，公司预计花旗集团将很快出售在公司的全部股权。
两家公司将继续出售彼此的产品，并联合经营双方在香港的一家小型保险合资企业。以周一收盘价计算，花旗集团目前在富邦金控所持全部股份的价值约为7.75亿美元。
当年花旗集团－富邦金控的交易宣布之时，这一交易曾经是花旗集团在亚洲地区除日本以外的最大投资，亦是有史以来外资在台湾最大的股权投资之一。花旗集团将此称之为“强有力的战略性合作关系”，而亲自前往台岛宣布这一交易的Weill更是将其吹嘘为令花旗集团拓展其在亚洲保险业务的一种方式。两家公司当时表示将把业务重心放在东南亚和中国市场方面。
富邦金控财务长龚天行表示，而到了2002年下半年，双方的管理人士均意识到双方的结盟并未产生计划中的效果。两家公司在亚洲其余地区建立保险合资企业的努力成效甚微。2002年8月份，花旗集团分拆了其全球财产险和意外险业务，从而令其与富邦金控合作关系中的核心部分不复存在。
而与此同时，富邦金控却在拓展其自身的银行业业务，日益与花旗银行(Citibank)展开针锋相对的竞争。以资产而言，花旗银行是台湾最大的外资银行。龚天行说，双方已就重塑合作关系的多种途径展开过讨论，包括完全合并双方在台湾的银行业业务，及花旗集团增加在富邦金控持股的可能性。他表示，虽然双方努力想要发现新的合作方式，但却没能找到一种新的解决方案。
