Insurance News
- China Life to buy stake in Beijing Energy
Date: 9-Nov-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
CHINA Life Insurance is in advanced talks to buy a major stake in State-owned Beijing Energy Investment Holding as the country's top life insurer aims to diversify its investment portfolio.
Beijing Energy, a major power company in northern China, plans to issue new shares to China Life and other domestic investors, although China Life needs the insurance regulator's permission for any deal due to Chinese limitations on insurers' investments.
China Life is expected to take as much as 40 percent of Beijing Energy for around 3.5 billion yuan (US$470 million), said sources close to the situation Wednesday.
'They have agreed on most of the details although the regulator will have the final say,'said one of the sources.
Senior officials at the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), the country's insurance watchdog, have been informed of the possible investment by China Life although they have not yet indicated any clear response to the plan, the source said.
Beijing Energy wants to boost its capital to fund expansion in the fast-growing energy sector, the sources said.
They added that China Life was also keen to diversify its equity investment portfolios, which now focus mainly on the financial services sector.
Beijing Energy, currently 100 percent owned by the Beijing Municipal Government, is the second-largest shareholder of Datang International Power Generation Co., China's second-largest listed electricity producer.
It also controls Shanghai-listed Beijing Jingneng Thermal Power Co. and Beijing-based regional property developer Tianchuang Property Group Co.
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