HSBChas struck a $9.4bn deal to sell its entire 15.6 per cent stake in Ping An Insuranceto companies controlled by Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group.
The UK bank said yesterday it had agreed to sell its stake in China’s second-biggest insurer by assets for HK$59 a share to the unlisted conglomerate, which is run by Dhanin Chearavanont, the Thai billionaire. HSBC, which had allowed its stake in Ping An to be diluted during rights issues, will book a profit of about $3bn on the sale over its last valuation at the end of 2011. The bank will transfer the first 20 per cent of the stake to CP Group on December 7, with the remainder to follow once the deal has received approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.
CP Group is funding the purchase of the first tranche of shares with cash and the remaining 80 per cent with a combination of cash and debt from China Development Bank.