Olympus Partners in talks to buy Taiwan lender -paper

TAIPEI, March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Olympus Partners is in talks to buy troubled Taiwan lender Chinfon Bank, the latest such move by a foreign player into Taiwan's crowded banking sector, local media said on Tuesday.

Olympus Partners, which said it has US$3.1 billion under management, has offered to invest US$200 million in Chinfon after the small lender sells its profitable units in Vietnam, the Chinese-language Economic Daily reported, quoting unidentified Chinfon sources.

Chinfon, which was taken over by the Taiwan government, was under pressure to find an investor to inject T$14.17 billion (US$463 million) into the bank to help improve its financial structure, the newspaper said. The island's banking market, the fourth largest in Asia, has attracted global banks and private equity funds in part because valuations of financial shares are among the lowest in Asia.

Other foreign private equity firms that have purchased struggling Taiwan banks over the last year include Caryle Group [CYL.UL], SAC Capital and Longreach.

Some big foreign lenders have also acquired Taiwan banks over the last two years, including Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Standard Chartered (2888.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), HSBC (0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and DBS (DBSM.SI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). (US$1 = T$30.6) (Reporting by Faith Hung; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)