OCBC Bank cancels sale of stake in Hong Kong Life Insurance for HK$2.4b

OCBC Bank on Monday announced it has terminated the sale of its 33.33 per cent stake in Hong Kong Life Insurance Limited, saying the closing conditions had not been satisfied by the long stop date of Sept 30.

In accordance with the terms of the share sale agreement, the buyer, First Origin International Limited, has forfeited its deposit of HK$710 million (S$124 million) to the sellers, one of which (see amendment note) is OCBC's subsidiary OCBC Wing Hang Bank Limited (OWHB).

OWHB first announced in March 2017 that it would sell its 140 million ordinary shares in Hong Kong Life for HK$2.4 billion to First Origin International.

Following the sale, Hong Kong Life would have ceased to be an associated company of OWHB and OCBC Bank, and OWHB would enter into a distribution agreement to distribute Hong Kong Life's products in Hong Kong.

Since the sale has been terminated, OWHB will retain its stake in Hong Kong Life.

Amendment Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that First Origin International had forfeited its deposit of HK$710 million to OWHB. The forfeited deposit will in fact be divided among all the sellers in the share sale agreement. The article above has been revised to reflect this.