9th May 2005 10:27
HSBC Holdings PLC09 May 2005 HSBC TO INCREASE STAKE IN PING AN HSBC Insurance Holdings Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the HSBC Group,has entered into agreements, subject to conditions referred to below, to acquirean additional 9.91 per cent of the issued share capital of Ping An Insurance(Group) Company of China, Ltd. for HK$8,104 million (US$1,039 million). The shares are to be acquired from two of the current shareholders of Ping An,namely, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and MSCP/PA Holding Limited, an entitycontrolled by funds managed by the private equity business of Morgan Stanley.The vendors acquired the Ping An shares in 1994. Under the terms of the agreements, 613,929,279 Ping An shares will be acquiredby HSBC at HK$13.20 (US$1.69) a share, a premium of 9 per cent to the price atwhich Ping An shares closed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 6 May 2005.Completion of the transaction will bring HSBC's holding in Ping An to 19.90 percent of its issued share capital. The transactions are subject to certain conditions including obtaining approvalfrom the China Insurance Regulatory Commission and other approvals as requiredby PRC regulators. HSBC intends to satisfy the consideration for the shares outof internal resources. HSBC Holdings plc Group Chairman, Sir John Bond, said: "This year marks the140th year of HSBC's continuous presence in mainland China and our proposedadditional investment in Ping An Insurance demonstrates the confidence HSBC hasin the future of the country. We are optimistic about the long-term prospects ofthe insurance industry in mainland China and believe Ping An is well positionedto benefit from the sector's development. We are looking forward to developingour partnership with Ping An and working more closely with them in the future." Chairman and CEO of Ping An Insurance, Mr Peter Ma, said: "We recognise andappreciate the significant value added by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley since1994 and look forward to further strengthening our relationship with HSBC." Notes to editors 1. Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") was founded in 1988and has its headquarter in Shenzhen. With insurance as its core business, PingAn has grown into a close-knit, efficient and diversified financial holdinggroup that integrates securities, trusts and banking. The group company is theholding company of Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Ltd. and Ping AnProperty & Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd. According to the grosswritten premiums, Ping An Life was ranked the second largest life insurance inthe PRC, Ping An P&C was ranked the third largest property and casualtyinsurance company in the PRC. 2. The HSBC GroupThe HSBC Group is one of the largest banking and financial servicesorganisations in the world. The Group has over 9,800 offices in 77 countries andterritories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle Eastand Africa, serves over 110 million customers and has assets of US$1,277 billionat 31 December 2004. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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