RHB Ends Talk With Tokio Marine

RHB Bank Bhd, Malaysia's fourth-biggest lender by assets, said on Thursday it had called off talks to sell up to 94.7% of its shares in RHB Insurance to Tokio Marine Asia (TMA), a unit of Japan's Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.

"RHB Bank wishes to announce that after much negotiations and deliberations, both the company and TMA have not been able to reach an agreement on mutually acceptable terms and conditions for the proposed disposal," RHB said. (https://bit.ly/2Pcaqxq)

"Accordingly, RHB Bank and TMA have mutually agreed to cease negotiations, and will not proceed with the proposed disposal."

RHB Bank first announced the talks in July and had expected to close a deal in the first quarter of next year.

Reuters reported in 2016 that Tokio Marine, which already runs its own life and general insurance businesses in Southeast Asia's third-biggest economy, could buy out RHB Insurance for as much as $500 million.

RHB Insurance had total assets of 1.78 billion ringgit ($426.86 million) and liabilities of 1.2 billion ringgit as of last year. It is the 10th largest insurer in Malaysia with a 4.4% market share, according to RHB Bank's 2018 annual report.