China puts controlling stake in revamped Anbang on sale

Shanghai

TWO Chinese state investors plan to sell a combined 98.78 per cent of their stakes in Dajia Insurance Group, the revamped entity of embattled Anbang Insurance Group, for 33.6 billion yuan (S$7 billion), according to an auction filing last Friday.

China Insurance Security Fund Co, the state rescue fund for the insurance sector which is controlled by the Ministry of Finance, aims to auction all of its 98.23 per cent stake in Dajia for 33.38 billion yuan.

China Petrochemical Corp is auctioning its 0.55 per cent stake in Dajia for 186.9 million yuan, according to an auction statement filed to the Beijing Financial Assets Exchange. The auction will end by Aug 12.

The move marks the latest development in the restructuring and divestiture of Anbang, which appears to have stalled since February 2020, when the country's top banking and insurance watchdog said Dajia "was close to a decision on a batch of strategic investors" and "would remain privately owned".

The Chinese government took control of Anbang Insurance Group in February 2018 as part of its sweeping campaign to reduce systemic financial risk after an asset-buying spree by a handful of private-sector conglomerates. It finished running Anbang in 2020, and handed over Anbang's management to Dajia, a newly established entity that took over Anbang's assets. Dajia currently has total assets of 21.1 billion yuan and total liabilities of 584.6 million yuan, the filing showed. In 2020, it posted a net profit of 2.9 billion yuan. REUTERS