Chai Chaiyawan, the president of Thai Life Insurance Plc, is a man of few words and media-shy, but his words are always full of wisdom and philosophical meaning.
Mr Chai admits restructuring is needed.
The son of company founder Vanich Chaiyawan admits Thai Life is feeling the winds of change after using its "Thainess" as a competitive advantage for many years.
Amid proliferating joint ventures between Thai and foreign insurers both in life and non-life business, Thai Life has been at the centre of speculation in recent years over its possible disposal of a minority stake to foreign investors.
In the latest development, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co and Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co were said to have made final bids for a stake in Thai Life.
The owners received offers ranging from US$500-700 million for a 15% stake, said a source who asked not to be identified.
Thai Life was established in 1942 as the first Thai-operated life insurance company after foreign firms left the country during World War II.
The insurer had 208 billion baht of assets as of March 31 compared with 628 billion for the Thai unit of the Hong Kong-based AIA Group.
Carlyle Group LP, CVC Capital Partners Ltd and KKR & Co made preliminary offers for the Thai Life stake, people with knowledge of the matter said in March. The deal may be valued at about $500 million, they said at the time.
Mr Chai admitted for the first time that Thai Life is open to negotiations with interested investors and said that in recent years the company has been approached by several foreign investors.
"The issue about foreign acquisition in the company has yet to reach any conclusion, and we have no sort of specific time frame, as we see no haste at all to wrap up the deal," he said.
"We're willing to talk with everyone."
Mr Chai sees nothing peculiar in Thailand allowing foreign ownership of firms.
"Partnership with foreign partners is the world's capitalistic trend. It is inescapable and has already happened to large commercial banks whose image remains Thai," he said.
"Once it reaches time for Thai Life to have a foreign shareholder, the company will remain a Thai firm fully committed to its selling point _ Thainess."
Mr Chai admits Thai Life must come up with internal administration and strategic restructuring to cope with stiffer competition.
"Eventually, we foresee Thai Life Insurance being listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Once it is a listed firm, it cannot bar foreign ownership. That's only a matter of time," he said.
Southeast Asia has emerged as a key battleground for global and regional insurers, with international companies attracted by its fast-growing market.
Insurance M&A in Southeast Asia hit a record $13.1 billion last year compared with $3.9 billion in the previous four years.
Southeast Asia's strong premium growth has attracted global insurers. Last year, Prudential Plc struck a $590-million deal to buy the insurance unit of Thanachart Bank, while Hong Kong businessman Richard Li bought ING's operations in Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand.
The Pan-Asian AIA Group acquired ING's Malaysian unit last year.
The Thai Life Assurance Association (TLAA) said the industry is poised for another healthy year after last year's robust 19.1% growth to 391 billion baht in gross premiums.
The TLAA projects growth of 17.4% to 459 billion baht this year.
New business premiums will come in at an estimated 162 billion baht, up by 24.2%, and renewal premiums at 297 billion, up by 13.9%.