On 27 November, the signing ceremony for China CEFC's acquisition of a controlling stake in the insurance company of Portugal's Montepio Geral Associação Mutualista was held at China CEFC's headquarters in Shanghai. China CEFC's board chairman Ye Jianming and Montepio's board chairman António Tomás Correia attended the ceremony, and China CEFC vice president Wu Hongbing and Montepio director Pedro Jorge Gouveia Alves signed on behalf of the two parties respectively.

　　Under the agreement, China CEFC will take a controlling stake in Montepio's insurance arm, Montepio Seguros, through a capital increase. The transaction still requires approval by the company's general meeting of shareholders and by the Portuguese regulator. Founded in 1840, Montepio is a mutual association, Portugal's first social insurance institution and a comprehensive financial institution. Its banks span Portugal with more than 300 branches, and it also has banks in Portuguese-speaking countries. Montepio and its subsidiaries have broad and diversified businesses, with products and services including banking products, insurance services, pension funds, investment funds and real estate asset management services. Montepio is the only large Portuguese financial institution that has not been bailed out since the global financial crisis, and it enjoys an excellent reputation locally. Montepio's insurance company owns insurers including Lusitania Seguros, Lusitania Vida and N Seguros, which mainly engage in life insurance, non-life insurance and online insurance respectively. China CEFC's acquisition of a controlling stake in this insurer will further promote synergy between the company's international energy and investment banking businesses and finance, and is of great significance for integrating international resources and enhancing asset value.
　　At the meeting, Chairman Ye Jianming affirmed Montepio's century of achievements, especially its healthy and stable development. Chairman Ye said that by injecting capital into Montepio, China CEFC will further expand its business and market influence in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries, jointly develop internet finance business, integrate resources in Macau and Hong Kong, establish financial connectivity with China, leverage industry-finance synergy, promote coordinated cooperation between European and Chinese markets in energy, infrastructure and other fields, and serve China's industrial upgrading and supply-side reform. Chairman Tomás expressed full confidence in the prospects of the cooperation and hoped that, by integrating the strengths of both sides, the two parties would continue to expand the fruits of their cooperation and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

Source: China.com.cn Finance 2017-11-29