Vogo-backed Tong Yang Life eyes ING South Korea unit

In a regulatory filing, Tong Yang Life said it was reviewing whether to buy the asset. The company did not say how it plans to fund the acquisition if it decides to proceed with a bid, which would be almost double the size of Tong Yang's market value of $1.1 billion.

Last year, Dutch financial services firm ING had failed to sell the unit to South Korea's KB Financial Group after 10 months of negotiations, during which period the unit's price was pushed down to $2.1 billion.

ING, which received a EUR10 billion ($13 billion) state bailout in 2008, sold its Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong units last October for $3.9 billion. The Malaysia unit was sold to AIA Group while the latter two were sold to Pacific Century Group for  EUR1.64 billion.

The proceeds of the divestments are being used to repay the bailout. ING is still looking for a buyer for its Japan unit.

Vogo acquired a 44% stake in Tong Yang Life in March, 2011, for an undisclosed amount. The investment was made through two vehicles, Vogo Fund II-1 and Vogo Fund II-2.

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• North Asia
• Financials
• South Korea
• Vogo Investment
• buyout