E.Sun to Buy Mercuries, Form Taiwan’s No. 5 Financial Group (1)

E.Sun Financial Holding Co. is buying Mercuries Life Insurance Co. in a share swap deal that will create Taiwan’s fifth-largest financial group.

Mercuries Life shareholders will receive 0.2486 E.Sun common share for each one they hold, according to exchange filings. Upon completion of the merger, the insurer will delist from the Taiwan stock exchange and become a wholly-owned E.Sun subsidiary.

E.Sun’s offer values the insurer at about NT$48 billion ($1.6 billion), or NT$8.2 a share, according to Bloomberg calculations based on the proposed swap ratio and its 60-day average closing price. That’s a 15% premium to Mercuries Life’s spot Tuesday, ...