The chief executive of Ping An has ruled out an immediate big overseas acquisition, emphasising that the domestic market is a priority for China’s largest insurance group.
The Chinese financial services conglomerate, which has a market capitalisation of more than $170bn, has this year been linked with a number of possible M&A targets. They include Prudential’s Asian life insurance business, which analysts value at more than £37bn, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s general insurance business.
But Ping An founder Peter Ma said his company was focused on its domestic market. “As of now, we don’t have aspirations to make acquisitions overseas,” he said. “The Chinese market has the best growth prospects.”