Briefs | SNS Reaal sells insurance arm to China’s Anbang Group

The Dutch government says nationalized bank SNS Reaal has agreed to sell its insurance division, Reaal NV, to Chinese insurer Anbang Group Holdings Co. Ltd. Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem says in a letter to Parliament the deal “offers clear perspective to Reaal, its employees and policy holders.” The government said it would spin off the insurance arm of SNS Reaal after it injected 2.2 billion euros to recapitalize the bank and insurer in 2013. According to terms released yesterday by Dijsselbloem, Anbang will pay 150 million euros (USD171 million) for Reaal. The Chinese company also will inject up to 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) to recapitalize the business and pay off 552 million euros ($630 million) in internal loans to SNS Bank. Dutch and Chinese regulators must approve the deal.

Hepatitis A outbreak in Australia linked to China-packed berries

Health authorities in Australia are investigating an outbreak of hepatitis A linked to frozen berries packed in China. At least nine cases of the infection, which can lead to abdominal pain, fever and yellow skin, have been reported across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland states. The Australian company at the center of the scare, Patties Foods Ltd., said yesterday it was recalling its frozen mixed berries, while further tests are carried out. “We are not sure how many people may be affected,” Vicky Sheppeard, director of NSW Health’s Communicable Diseases Branch, said in a statement. “There is the potential that others may be sick with hepatitis A now, or develop the disease over the coming weeks.” China has sought to bolster confidence in its food industry, after a series of scandals from melamine-laced baby formula to rat meat sold as mutton. The berries had been washed and packaged for Patties Foods at the supplier’s factory in Shandong province since December, the company’s Managing Director Steven Chaur told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.