St Clair Brown on board of FAI

Press, 15 September 1988, Page 36

St Clair Brown on board of FAI

By

BOB NORTHROP

of NZPA in Wellington The chairman of Met Life Group, Mr Charles St Clair Brown, is headed for a seat on the board of FAI Insurances, as part of the Australian company’s expansion in New Zealand. FAI on Tuesday spent $55 million to take a 61 per cent stake in Met Life and says it intends taking up to 100 per cent. Among FAl’s initial acquisitions was the 38% holding of Mr St Clair Brown and other directors in Met Life. Under the deal, he disclosed yesterday, he would sit on the FAI board and take the job of managing director of the merged companies’ lifeassurance activities in Australia and New Zealand and also the fire and general business in New Zealand. Mr St Clair Brown said he would divide his time between the two countries.

Other decisions regarding the Met Life board had yet to be settled, he said. Met Life was formed in August, 1987, from the long-established Metropolitan Life Assurance Company, which was acquired by the diversified investment company, Growthlink Holdings. The company recently reported interim profit of $5.12M for the six months ending July 31. The previous annual result was SB.9M, with almost three-quarters of Met Life’s business in the period being in life cover. His appointment to the FAI board illustrated the link with FAI was more a merger with Met Life than a takeover, Mr St Clair Brown said. “FAI and Met Life have identical philosophies and business strategies.” FAl’s fire and general expertise spliced well with Met Life’s experience in life assurance, he

added. FAI paid 185 c a share for its 61%. That was a price which was fair and indicated major . shareholders did not sell out to the disadvantage of the minority shareholders, he said. Mr St Clair Brown confirmed FAI would mail its offer to the holders of the outstanding 39% of Met Life’s shares. About 2.1 M Met Life shares were traded on the Stock Exchange yesterday. A parcel of 2M went through at 185 cps but the stock closed on the market 10c lower on a trade of 39,700 at 175 c. Brokers said the sale of shares at the cheaper price reflected the fact that the FAI bid could take some . time to be approved. Consent is required from the Overseas Investment Commission and the Commerce Commission.