Sources familiar with the matter were quoted by Reuters as saying that Zurich Insurance Group, Hong Kong-based business man Richard Li's Pacific Century Group, property and casualty insurer ACE and two underwriters from Japan are also participating in the bidding.
These companies have placed their first-round of bids to acquire up to 70% stake in AmLife Insurance, in a deal valued at nearly $350m. As per Malaysian regulations, a foreign company cannot own more than 70% stake in Malaysian insurance companies.
The potential deal highlights the growing financial influence of the Southeast Asian' countries, whose businesses have attracted many global financial firms to set up their operations in the region. With growing income and a young population, Malaysia represents the ninth-biggest insurance market by premiums.
The news agency further reported citing Swiss Re estimates that Malaysia's life insurance industry has increased 13.5% during the last three decades and its ratio premium-to-GDP touched a strong 3.3% compared to nearly 10% for Hong Kong and over 4% for Singapore.
Recently, the insurance joint venture of CIMB Group Holdings and Aviva Plc was acquired by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional and Sun Life Financial Inc for $597m.
No comments:
Post a Comment