China lifeline

20 February 2018 By Alec Macfarlane Follow @AlecMac11

Axa and MassMutual have already sold local life-insurance businesses, and MetLife could soon follow. This is a competitive, mature industry and there are plenty of Chinese buyers circling. European insurers like Generali and Zurich may be tempted into disposals or stake sales.

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MetLife is looking to sell its Hong Kong insurance unit, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 22, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The sale could raise more than $600 million, the report said. The New York-based firm is preparing to send information to prospective buyers in the next couple of weeks, it added.

In December, France’s Axa agreed to sell Axa Wealth Management (HK), which sells life insurance under the Swiss Privilege brand, to local investment-holding firm Jeneration for HK$2.2 billion ($281 million).

In August, a consortium led by Yunfeng Financial, a firm backed by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, agreed to buy U.S. insurer Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance’s Hong Kong operations for $1.7 billion.

A spokesman for Generali declined to comment on whether the firm could sell its Hong Kong business, but said it was exiting some markets to concentrate on those with more growth potential. A spokesman for Zurich said it had no plans to exit Hong Kong, which houses its regional headquarters, and was committed to its life-insurance business.

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