SAFE Investments to Become NCL No.1 Shareholder

 

Tuesday, Nov 24,2009, 10:16:39 AM   Click:

China SAFE Investments Ltd. will take the 38.815 percent stake the nation's insurance protection fund holds in New China Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Sun Bing, president of the insurer, said in an interview on November 22.

After the deal, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the nation's USD 200 billion sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. will become the biggest shareholder of the insurer, which in turn will shit into a state-controlled entity from a privately-owned one by then. Baosteel Group Corp. Ltd. and Sinopec Asset Management Corp. each has a 17.273 percent stake and a 1.502 percent stake the insurer. Foreign institutions, represented by Zurich Insurance Plc, controls a total of 24.9 percent stake in it, the maximum proportion allowed by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, the top Chinese insurance regulator.

Statistics show that premium revenue New China Life gained in the first three quarters of this year totaled CNY 49.11 billion, ranking number four in the domestic life insurance sector.