PE firms target ING’s Asian insurance assets – report
ING is said to be in talks with several parties, including Apollo Global Management, J.C. Flowers & Co. and a team backed by The Blackstone Group, over the sale of different parts of its Asian life insurance operations. The initial plan was to divest the business in a single sale, but breaking it up may generate higher proceeds.
Final bids for the assets were submitted in mid-July and ING wants to sign sale agreements by the end of August. It is estimated that the full divestment, including ING's asset management unit and its insurance joint venture in China, could generate up to EUR7 billion ($8.5 billion).
According to Bloomberg, Apollo and J.C. Flowers have made offers for ING's Japan operations, while a consortium led by former AIA head Mark Wilson and supported by Blackstone and Swiss Re is targeting the entire Asia business. It was previously reported that Wilson's group was only interested in the Southeast Asian operations.
Korea Life Insurance is said to be interested in ING's Southeast Asia business but has yet to enter into official talks. Discussions are already underway with Manulife Financial, AIA Group and KB Financial Group regarding the same asset. Richard Li, head of Hong Kong telecom provider PCCW and son of Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, is believed to have bid for the Southeast Asia and Japan operations.
ING has sold $18.6 billion of assets globally as part of efforts to repay the Netherlands government for a bailout received during the 2008 financial crisis.
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