Primus denied it had any links to China, saying it was a pure Hong Kong company. The four main shareholders of the holding behind Primus are all prominent Hong Kong businessmen, Primus said.

Sean Chen, chairman of the government’s Financial Supervisory Commission, said any foreign investment would have to win the approval of the Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Primus’ investment will leave it in control of 97.57 percent of the shares in Nan Shan. Its victory in the bid came at the expense of several major Taiwanese rivals, including the Chinatrust, Cathay and Fubon financial holdings.

Chinatrust had offered the highest bid, but Primus produced more guarantees favorable to Nan Shan employees, media reports said Tuesday.

At a news conference in Taipei Tuesday afternoon, Nan Shan Life Chairman Hsieh Shih-jung said that the only company qualified to take over Nan Shan was a company which promised to keep the brand alive, let all employees and sales staff keep their jobs and maintain its traditional sales system.

Existing compensation and benefits packages would stay in place for at least two years, AIG officials said.

Representatives from the Hong Kong company reportedly had their first meeting with Nan Shan union officials Tuesday morning, the Chinese-language United Evening News said.

Chen said one of the preconditions for selling the company was that the buyer would manage Nan Shan for at least seven years while protecting the rights of its customers and employees. Primus Chairman Robert Morse reportedly said in a statement Tuesday that he wanted to develop Nan Shan into a regional financial services corporation.

Nan Shan Life was founded in 1963 and counts 4 million customers in Taiwan. The cost of Primus’ takeover amounted to 70 percent of Nan Shan’s NT$99.6 billion (US$3.1 billion) net value, reports said.