Aviva 4 Potential Suitors

Four potential buyers, including Prudential Plc and Manulife, have made it through to a second stage of bidding for Aviva's insurance business in Malaysia in a deal worth about US$500mil. The hunt for the Aviva stake underscores the industry's focus on growth opportunities in emerging Asian markets, where life insurance premiums are forecast to double the world average next year.

AIA Group Ltd and Sun Life Financial Inc have also been short-listed in an auction process that attracted about 10 suitors in the first round. Britain's second-ranked insurer is selling its 49% stake in an insurance joint venture with Malaysia's second biggest lender CIMB Group Holdings Ltd as part of a global retreat.

Some analysts estimate between 45% and 50 % of all new insurance products in Asia are sold through the so-called bancassurance agreements, compared to between 70% and 80% in France and Spain. Bancassurance deals are expected to drive insurance sales in Asia, which is encouraging global insurers to tap into bank distribution deals in the region.

CIMB formed the joint venture with Aviva in June 2007, but the business has failed to perform to its potential, analysts say.