31st Aug 2005 09:06
HSBC Holdings PLC31 August 2005 HSBC COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF 9.91 PER CENT OF PING AN On 9 May 2005 it was announced that a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdingsplc, HSBC Insurance Holdings Limited, had entered into agreements, subject toconditions, to acquire a further 9.91 per cent of the issued share capital ofPing An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. for HK$8,104 million (US$1,039million). The conditions to which those agreements were subject have beensatisfied and the acquisition was completed today. As permitted under the agreements, HSBC Insurance assigned its rights to acquirethe shares to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, anotherwholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc. The Hongkong and Shanghai BankingCorporation acquired 613,929,279 Ping An shares from The Goldman Sachs Group,Inc. and MSCP/PA Holding Limited, an entity controlled by funds managed by theprivate equity business of Morgan Stanley, for a cash consideration of HK$13.20(US$1.69) per share. This acquisition brings HSBC's aggregate holding in Ping An to 19.90 per cent.HSBC Insurance Holdings Limited continues to hold the 9.99 per cent investmentin Ping An it acquired in November 2002. Notes to editors: 1. Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. was founded in 1988 and has itsheadquarters in Shenzhen. With insurance as its core business, Ping An has growninto a close-knit, efficient and diversified financial holding group thatintegrates securities, trusts and banking. The group company is the holdingcompany of Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Ltd. and Ping An Property &Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd. According to the gross writtenpremiums, Ping An Life was ranked the second-largest life insurer in mainlandChina; Ping An Property & Casualty was ranked the third-largest property andcasualty insurance company on the Mainland. 2. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation LimitedThe Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding and aprincipal member of the HSBC Group which, with over 9,700 offices in 77countries and territories and assets of US$1,467 billion at 30 June 2005, is oneof the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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