Chinatrust eyes acquiring Metlife Taiwan unit

Chinatrust sets its sight on Metlife after it failed to win AIG Taiwan unit bidding.

Chinatrust Financial, is considering a possible bid for the Taiwan unit of Metlife, a newspaper reported on Monday, having lost out in the bidding for AIG's Taiwan insurance unit. 

The Apple Daily newspaper, citing talk in the insurance industry, said an internal committee in Chinatrust had decided that a bid for the Metlife unit should be the next move. Any bid would be in the first half of the year, it said, according to a report in TakeOverChatter. 

Chinatrust had long sought the AIG unit as it looks to add insurance to its suite of financial services, but it lost out to a bidder group led by conglomerate Ruentex Group. Metlife's initial deal to sell its local unit to Taiwan's Waterland Financial Holding for $116 million was rejected by regulators in October.