Zurich, July 19, 2000. - Zurich Insurance Company, Switzerland and National Finance Public Company Limited, Thailand (National Finance), have entered into a joint venture agreement covering extensive cooperation and a 25% ownership in National Life Assurance Company Limited, Thailand (National Life). The consideration is less than 0.2% of the shareholders’ equity of the Zurich Financial Services Group.
Under the terms of the agreement, Zurich will provide management and technical capabilities to support a business model that provides customer relationship management through multiple distribution channels of the customers’ choice, whilst concurrently optimizing manufacturing operations. National Finance will provide, to the extent permitted by law, access to their significant customer base, so that they can provide their customers with total financial solutions including insurance and asset management.
National Life will gain access to Zurich’s regional and global resources and management development opportunities.
Khun Suphadej Poonipipat, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Finance, said: "The joint venture between National Finance and Zurich Insurance opens many doors of opportunities in the Thai market. Being a world-class insurance company, Zurich can bring technical know how to National Life Assurance, while National Finance can complement that with innovative financial solutions and wide range of financial products. We hope that the relationship between the two parties will further develop in the future into other areas of financial businesses."
Frank Schnewlin, member of the Group Executive Board of Zurich Financial Services responsible for the Asia/Pacific region, commented: "We are very pleased to have secured this relationship with National Finance, which holds similar views on providing financial solutions, thereby creating sustainable relationships with customers. We view National Finance as a leading and innovative financial player in Thailand, and are very pleased that they have chosen Zurich to be their partner in National Life. We, in turn, will be able to leverage our resources and customer base in our existing non-life joint venture company, Thai Zurich Insurance Company Limited."
National Finance Public Company Limited is the largest and most active finance company in Thailand. It is a holding company of several financial companies under National Financial Services Group, which offer a full range of financial products to the Thai market. Its subsidiaries include finance business, securities business, asset management business, life assurance business, insurance business and also banking business in the near future.
