Westpac Banking Corp (Westpac) is reportedly gearing up to take final bids for its life insurance business, making it the last of the big four banks to ditch that type of business.
As of this writing, Westpac has a $26.62 share price, 1.26% higher than its previous close. Its shares are 37% higher than at the beginning of 2021 and have gained 52% since this time last year. The bank also has a market capitalisation of around $96.4 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 22.4, and around 3.6 billion shares outstanding, according to The Motley Fool.
The Australian revealed that parties interested in purchasing Westpac’s life insurance business must bid by June 25, with unnamed sources claiming that the Westpac board will make a final decision on the sale once the bidding has closed.
Unnamed sources also told The Australian that Dai-ichi’s TAL and Resolution Life are interested in acquiring the business.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia was the first of the major banks to ditch its life insurance business, selling the business in 2017. National Australia Bank Ltd followed, selling its Australian life insurance business in 2018 and its New Zealand life insurance business last year. In 2019, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group also sold its life insurance business.
