SEOUL: Anbang Insurance Group Co., which walked away from a bid to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. last week, has agreed to buy Allianz SE’s operations in South Korea.
The Chinese insurer will purchase Allianz Life Insurance Korea and Allianz Global Investors Korea, according to a joint statement on Wednesday that didn’t disclose the value of the deal. Anbang said in a separate statement it’s paying more than $3 million for the units. The sale by the Munich-based insurance company comes after Allianz Chief Executive Officer Oliver Baete put the life insurance unit in South Korea under review as part of a push to focus on the most profitable businesses and release capital from less-profitable ones.
Under Chairman Wu Xiaohui, the Beijing-based Anbang has emerged as one of the most acquisitive Chinese conglomerates with purchases focused on real estate and insurance assets. Less than a week ago, the company withdrew a $14 billion takeover bid for U.S. hotel operator Starwood.
The deal is Anbang’s second involving a South Korean insurer and marks a refocus on its core business after a string of high-profile real estate acquisitions. It bought a controlling stake in South Korea’s Tongyang Life Insurance Co. for 1.13 trillion won ($977 million) last year. In November, it agreed to buy HRG Group Inc.’s Fidelity & Guaranty Life for about $1.6 billion to expand in the U.S. and earlier last year it won approval to purchase Dutch insurer Vivat. In 2014, it acquired Antwerp, Belgium-based insurer Fidea.
“This is in line with Anbang’s acquisition of Tongyang Life last year, with possible synergies in distribution and asset management, ” Steven Lam, a Hong Kong-based insurance analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said by phone. “Anbang is likely to continue with its M&A spree.”
