Canadian insurance company Sun Life is among the five bidders for the Hong Kong life insurance business of Dah Sing Financial Holdings.
Sun Life, one of the largest life insurers in the world, joins four other bidders - Chinese property developer Country Garden Holdings, China Taiping Insurance Holdings, Qian Hai Life Insurance, and Beijing-based investment firm JD Capital, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.
The insiders revealed to Reuters that the top offer in the final bidding round was nearly HK$10 billion or US$1.3 billion, about 30% more than initially expected.
The report said it was not immediately clear who submitted the highest bid. The winner is likely to be announced in June, the sources claimed.
Finance Asia, meanwhile, reports that JD Capital is the leading bidder for the Hong Kong life insurer, having bid $1.1 billion as claimed by one insider.
According to Reuters, Dah Sing’s life insurance unit represents an attractive way for a traditional insurer to expand sales of its products since the company has a network of 70 branches in Hong Kong, Macau and on mainland China.
Dah Sing had told the news agency that it was reviewing strategic alternatives for its life insurance business. However, no decision had been made and no timetable had been set.
The sale of the Dah Sing’s life insurance arm had attracted more than 24 suitors but many traditional insurers dropped out, the report added.
