Aviva PLC AVIVA, HILLHOUSE, TENCENT TO DEVELOP A HK COMPANY (7072U)

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RNS Number : 7072U

Aviva PLC

20 January 2017

20 January 2017

AVIVA, HILLHOUSE AND TENCENT AGREE TO DEVELOP

AN INSURANCE COMPANY IN HONG KONG

Aviva plc ("Aviva"), Hillhouse Capital ("Hillhouse") and Tencent Holdings Limited ("Tencent") have agreed to develop an insurance company in Hong Kong, which will focus on digital insurance.

As part of the agreement, Hillhouse and Tencent will acquire shares in Aviva Life Insurance Company Limited ("Aviva Hong Kong"). Following completion of the transaction, Aviva and Hillhouse will each hold 40% and Tencent will hold 20% shareholdings in Aviva Hong Kong. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

As part of the transaction, the shareholders' agreement between the parties contains options(1) which may require Aviva to purchase or dispose of its shareholding in certain circumstances.

Notes:

1. Call option exercisable in the event of a termination or deadlock in the shareholders' agreement. The agreements stipulate a valuation based on prevailing fair market value at the time. At closing, the transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Aviva.

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Enquiries:

Aviva

Media

   Andrew Reid            [phone] 
   Yasmin Saleh          [phone] 

Analysts

   Chris Esson             [phone] 

Hillhouse

Media

   Xiaoning Wu             [phone] 

[e-mail]

Tencent

Media

   Canny Lo                  (86) 755 86013388 ext 66630/ (852) 3148 5100 

[e-mail]

   Limin Chen               (86) 755 86013388 ext 56011 

[e-mail]

Investors

   Catherine Chan        (86) 755 86013388 ext 88369/ (852) 3148 5100 

[e-mail]

   Tracy Huang            (86) 755 86013388 ext 83731/ (852) 3148 5100 

[e-mail]

About Aviva

   --     Aviva's LEI code is YF0Y5B0IB8SM0ZFG9G81 

-- Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to 33 million customers, across 16 markets worldwide

-- In the UK we are the leading insurer serving one in every four households and have strong businesses in selected markets in Europe, Asia and Canada. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE100 index

-- Aviva operates in seven markets in Asia (Singapore, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and India)

-- Aviva has had a presence in Hong Kong for more than 150 years providing a full range of financial and insurance solutions for protection, investments, savings and retirement planning

-- Aviva's asset management business, Aviva Investors, provides asset management services to both Aviva and external clients, and currently manages over GBP289 billion in assets

-- Aviva helps people save for the future and manage the risks of everyday life; we paid out GBP30.7 billion in benefits and claims in 2015

-- By serving our customers well, we are building a business which is strong and sustainable, which our people are proud to work for, and which makes a positive contribution to society

-- The Aviva media centre at http://www.aviva.com/media/ includes company information, images, and a news release archive

   --     For an introduction to what we do and how we do it, please click here http://www.aviva.com/about-us/aviva/ 
   --     For broadcast-standard video, please visit http://www.aviva.com/media/b-roll-library/ 
   --     Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/avivaplc/ 
   --     Follow us on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/company/aviva-plc 
   --     For the latest corporate films from around our business, subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/aviva 

About Hillhouse Capital

Founded in 2005, Hillhouse Capital is a leading global investment management firm, active across both public and private equity. Hillhouse invests for the long-term and is focused on partnering with leading entrepreneurs to deliver sustained value creation. Independent proprietary research, supported by its global network of operating advisors and portfolio development professionals, is key to Hillhouse's investment approach. Hillhouse focuses on consumer, TMT, healthcare, financials and business services sectors and invests in companies across all equity stages. Based in Asia, Hillhouse manages over $20 billion in assets on behalf of institutional clients such as university endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices.

About Tencent

Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Every day, hundreds of millions of people communicate, share experiences, consume information and seek entertainment through our integrated platforms. Tencent's diversified services include QQ, Weixin/ WeChat for communications; Qzone for social networking; QQ Game Platform for online games; QQ.com and Tencent News for information and Tencent Video for video content.

Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 and went public on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. The Company is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index. Tencent seeks to evolve with the Internet by investing in innovation, providing a mutually beneficial environment for partners, and staying close to users.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 20, 2017 03:21 ET (08:21 GMT)