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Bloomberg
The owners of Hong Kong Life Insurance Ltd are reviving a sale of the business after a deal was scrapped more than two years ago, according to people familiar with the matter.
A sale of Hong Kong Life, whose owners include OCBC Wing Hang Bank Ltd, could fetch $400 million to $500 million, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Citigroup Inc is helping find a buyer for the business, which has drawn preliminary interest from other insurers, the people said.
This would mark at least the third attempt by the owners to exit the business, the people said. A previous agreement to sell the operations to investment fund First Origin International Ltd for $914 million was terminated in 2018 because closing conditions had not
been satisfied.
Intense competition in Hong Kong’s insurance market, along with economic instability amid local politics and the Covid-19 pandemic, have weighed on the valuation of the company, the people said.