Taiwan's Shin Kong Financial mulls fund raising

TAIPEI, April 28 (Reuters) - Shin Kong Financial Holding (2888.TW) said on Tuesday it plans to raise funds through a private placement and rights issue that will not exceed 2 billion shares to boost working capital and improve financial structure.

The company said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange its board had approved the plan but it did not give a firm date.

The total 2 billion shares were worth T$19.9 billion ($589 million), based on the stock's closing price on Tuesday.

Shin Kong shares closed down 3.9 percent at T$9.95 on Tuesday, while the main TAIEX lost 1.9 percent.

The fund-raising plan came after Shin Kong Financial sold a prime property to ING Life via an auction for T$11.6 billion earlier this month, the latest effort to aid its struggling insurance arm.

ING Life, the former Taiwan insurance unit of ING (ING.AS), was acquired by Fubon Financial (2881.TW) late last year.

Shin Kong -- parent of Taiwan's No. 3 life insurer -- and many foreign and local rivals were hit by the global financial crisis which forced them to shed assets.

Shin Kong posted a T$21 billion net loss last year, with most of that coming from its insurance arm Shin Kong Life. In 2007, the company had a net profit of T$5.1 billion. (US$1=T$33.8) (Reporting by Baker Li; Editing by Nick Macfie)