(Bloomberg) – Swiss Re AG's chief said the reinsurer would welcome an anchor investor after being approached by billionaire Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group Corp.

In a business where results can change radically from one year to the next, "it's not a bad thing to have an anchor shareholder,"  Christian Mumenthaler said at a conference in Zurich. he said. "If you ask me, just high level, is it attractive? I would say yes."

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Preliminary discussions

SoftBank wants to buy as much as a third of Swiss Re, according to people with knowledge of the matter. While the reinsurer has confirmed what the CEO called "very preliminary" discussions with the investor — Swiss Re hadn't said any more about what it thinks of the offer.

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