Insurance watchdog seeks information on Ping An stake sale

China's insurance regulator has conducted a preliminary review of HSBC Holdings Plc's proposed $9.4 billion sale of a stake in Ping An Insurance Group Co, and has asked the insurer for more information about the deal, it said on Thursday.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission declined to give further details to the media about the review or the information it is seeking.

In early December, HSBC announced a plan to sell its 15.57 percent stake in China's second-largest insurer by market value to a Thai conglomerate.

Charoen Pokphand Group Co Ltd, owned by Thai tycoon Dhanin Chearavanont, will pay $9.39 billion, or about HK$59 ($7.60) a share, for HSBC's stake in Ping An, HSBC said in a statement.

HSBC said the transaction will be conducted in two stages. A $1.9 billion payment by Charoen Pokphand subsidiaries was made on December 7 as a first installment for the deal, with the shares then transferred to the Thai conglomerate.

Payment for the remaining amount is due after regulatory approval, which has a deadline of February 1.

The purchase will be financed in part with cash and in part with assistance from China Development Bank Corp's Hong Kong branch.

The deal, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday, was in jeopardy after China Development Bank expressed concerns over its financing.

Reuters reported that the bank's reluctance came after media reports in late December that said the Thai conglomerate's money for the deal came from outside sources. China Development Bank originally agreed to back the remaining purchase, but HSBC did not disclose the size of the loan.

Reports by the South China Morning Post and The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday suggested the insurance regulatory commission may veto the deal because of a lack of funding.

Current rules from China's insurance regulator may bar the use of external financing for such acquisitions, according to Esther Chwei, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in Hong Kong.

But Shen Ruisheng, spokesman for Ping An Group, told China Daily that the sale was moving ahead with normal approval procedures.

"We have no more information to release and the change of the shareholder will not change our business strategy," said Shen.

According to an industry insider who declined to be named, the development bank's withdrawal from the process would not necessarily end the deal.

A research note from CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets showed that Ping An's share price may fluctuate if the deal cannot move on because of financing arrangement.

huyuanyuan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/11/2013 page15)