Ageas to Sell Hong Kong Life Insurance Business

BRUSSELS—Belgian insurance company Ageas said Sunday it will sell its Hong Kong Life insurance business to Chinese asset-management firm JD Capital for €1.23 billion ($1.4 billion).

Ageas said it expects to complete the sale in the first half of 2016 subject to regulatory approvals.

The company said in a news release it remains firmly committed to its Asian businesses but will focus on its joint ventures and partnership in India, Malaysia, China, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

"The decision to sell our business in Hong Kong follows a strategic review of our Asian activities in which we concluded that it is in the group's best interest to realign our strategy towards the fast growing emerging markets of Asia," said Ageas Chief Executive Bart de Smet.

Ageas, the former insurance unit of failed financial firm Fortis, bought Hong Kong's Pacific Century Insurance and rebranded the company to Ageas in 2007

The company said the sale of the Hong Kong unit would have an estimated positive €450 million impact on its net results.

The Hong Kong unit has more than 2,500 professional financial advisers and saw gross inflows of €481 million last year.

Beijing-based JD Capital, established in 2007, is listed on the Chinese National Equities Exchange and Quotations. It has offices across China, Asia and North America operating a variety of financial-service firms including one of China's largest private-equity investment firms.

Write to Laurence Norman at [e-mail]

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August 30, 2015 20:55 ET (00:55 GMT)

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