MetLife said to join MassMutual in seeking HK sale

MetLife Inc. is seeking a sale of its Hong Kong insurance unit, joining international rivals including Axa SA and MassMutual that have pursued divestments in the Chinese territory, people with knowledge of the matter said.

New York-based MetLife is preparing to send out information on the Hong Kong business to prospective buyers in the next couple weeks, according to the people. The sale could raise more than USD600 million, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

MetLife is the latest insurer seeking to cash in on a surge of buyer interest in a coveted Hong Kong insurance license. Mainland companies have been pursuing acquisitions of life insurers and wealth managers in the city, even as China has sought to rein in its citizens’ purchases of investment-type products being sold in Hong Kong.

China’s steps to curb demand for Hong Kong insurance products sent quarterly sales slumping 47 percent in the third quarter of last year. Chinese purchases of these policies fell to HKD10.1 billion ($1.3 billion), according to Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority.

MetLife has boosted its business from mainland clients and now ranks as Hong Kong’s 14th largest insurer by total new business in the first nine months of 2017, up from 17th in the same period a year earlier. MDT/Bloomberg