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Life Health > Life Insurance

MetLife Said to Join AXA, MassMutual in Pursuing Hong Kong Sale

By Jonathan Browning

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MetLife Inc. is seeking a sale of its Hong Kong insurance unit, joining international rivals including AXA S.A. and MassMutual that have pursued divestments in the Chinese territory, people with knowledge of the matter said.

New York-based MetLife is preparing to send out information on the Hong Kong business to prospective buyers in the next couple weeks, according to the people. The sale could raise more than $600 million, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

MetLife is the latest insurer seeking to cash in on a surge of buyer interest in a coveted Hong Kong insurance license. Chinese companies have been pursuing acquisitions of life insurers and wealth managers in the city in a string of deals over the past three years, as they seek to cater to demand for investment-type products from mainland customers.

(Related: MetLife Adds Critical Illness Annuity Rider in Hong Kong)

AXA agreed last month to sell its Hong Kong wealth management unit to a local family office, while a group led by tech billionaire Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Financial Group Ltd. said in August it would buy control of Hong Kong-based MassMutual Asia Ltd. for $1.7 billion.

A representative for MetLife declined to comment.

MetLife Hong Kong has an embedded value of around $400 million, according to the people familiar with the matter. The company could fetch a similar valuation multiple to that achieved with previous disposals such as the AXA sale, the people said. MetLife remains committed to its other Asian operations, including those in South Korea and Japan, one person said.

MetLife has boosted its business from mainland clients and now ranks as Hong Kong’s 14th largest insurer by total new business in the first nine months of 2017, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steven Lam, up from 17th in the same period a year earlier.

—Read Why AXA Is Bullish on Emerging Markets on ThinkAdvisor.


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