Taiwan’s financial regulator has approved the merger of Fubon Asset Management Co and Jih Sun Securities Trust Co, a combination that will create a company with nearly NT$830 billion (US$25.32 billion) of assets.
The companies announced the merger, which has a price tag of around NT$1.8 billion, in November.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) says in a statement on January 21 that it has given the green light for the deal, which is expected to be wrapped up by the end of this year.
Fubon is the fourth largest of Taiwan’s 50 asset managers with around NT$757 billion of fund assets as of December and a 6.22% share of the market. The much smaller Jih Sun is ranked 11th, with NT$71.8 billion of assets and a market share of 0.61%.
The merger will not immediately change the ranking, with the combined entity still the fourth largest asset manager in Taiwan.
The FSC says Jin Sun’s 97 employees will be retained for three years after the merger, and that Alex Huang, chief executive officer and managing director of Fubon, will be the CEO of the enlarged company.
In a separate statement, Fubon says its exchange-traded funds and real estate investment trusts and Jih Sun’s active funds and money market funds are complementary.
According to Fubon, the merged company will be able to provide investors with more diversified investment solutions and strengthen its competitiveness.