Richard Li buys ING Asian assets
Source: Agencies |
October 20, 2012, Saturday
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HONG Kong businessman Richard Li, the younger son of Asia's richest man, is buying ING's Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand insurance units for US$2.14 billion in cash, bringing the Dutch financial service company a step closer to paying off its state bailout.
Li's bid, through unlisted Pacific Century Group, marks his return to an industry he exited in 2007 and would help expand his business empire, which is now made up of telecoms, media and fund management.
He is paying 24.3 times estimated 2012 earnings for the three units. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and may close in the first quarter of 2013, according to a statement from ING yesterday.
"What we really want to do is to expand the business regionally," Li, 45, said yesterday.
He previously owned a Hong Kong life insurance company, called Pacific Century Insurance, which he sold to Dutch and Belgian financial service firm Fortis in 2007.
Li said that when he invested in PCI, the business plan was very narrowly aimed at the Hong Kong market. "And then, after a while, we realized that this is a good business," Li said, referring to the overall insurance sector.
A source familiar with the sale process said Li is keen in other insurance acquisitions and distribution agreements in Asia-Pacific.
Li's father, billionaire Li Ka-shing, is a legendary businessman and a rags-to-riches property tycoon. The family's business empire spans property, ports, power, water, supermarkets, drug stores and is spread across 52 countries and regions. In May, Li Ka-shing named elder son Victor as his formal successor but also pledged to continue to back the younger son's ventures.
Richard Li did not say how he plans to fund the acquisition but bankers are already betting he will participate in other insurance deals in the region.
"I will call him on every single sell-side I run," one Hong Kong-based M&A banker said.
The timing of Richard Li's comeback plans to the insurance business coincided with ING's need to shed assets to repay the 10-billion-euro (US$13.1 billion) state bailout it got during the 2008 financial crisis.
Last week, ING announced the sale of its Malaysian insurance business to AIA Group Ltd for US$1.73 billion in cash, helping it to strike its first deal in a nine-month drive to sell its Asian insurance and investment management assets.
Li's bid, through unlisted Pacific Century Group, marks his return to an industry he exited in 2007 and would help expand his business empire, which is now made up of telecoms, media and fund management.
He is paying 24.3 times estimated 2012 earnings for the three units. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and may close in the first quarter of 2013, according to a statement from ING yesterday.
"What we really want to do is to expand the business regionally," Li, 45, said yesterday.
He previously owned a Hong Kong life insurance company, called Pacific Century Insurance, which he sold to Dutch and Belgian financial service firm Fortis in 2007.
Li said that when he invested in PCI, the business plan was very narrowly aimed at the Hong Kong market. "And then, after a while, we realized that this is a good business," Li said, referring to the overall insurance sector.
A source familiar with the sale process said Li is keen in other insurance acquisitions and distribution agreements in Asia-Pacific.
Li's father, billionaire Li Ka-shing, is a legendary businessman and a rags-to-riches property tycoon. The family's business empire spans property, ports, power, water, supermarkets, drug stores and is spread across 52 countries and regions. In May, Li Ka-shing named elder son Victor as his formal successor but also pledged to continue to back the younger son's ventures.
Richard Li did not say how he plans to fund the acquisition but bankers are already betting he will participate in other insurance deals in the region.
"I will call him on every single sell-side I run," one Hong Kong-based M&A banker said.
The timing of Richard Li's comeback plans to the insurance business coincided with ING's need to shed assets to repay the 10-billion-euro (US$13.1 billion) state bailout it got during the 2008 financial crisis.
Last week, ING announced the sale of its Malaysian insurance business to AIA Group Ltd for US$1.73 billion in cash, helping it to strike its first deal in a nine-month drive to sell its Asian insurance and investment management assets.
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