Anbang Insurance Group
Native name | 安邦保险集团 |
|---|---|
| private | |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Beijing, China |
Area served | People's Republic of China |
Key people | Wu Xiaohui, Chairman & GM |
| Products | Diversified Insurance |
| Website | http://en.anbanggroup.com/ |
Anbang Insurance Group (Chinese: 安邦保险; pinyin: Ānbāng bǎoxiǎn) is a Chinese holding company whose subsidiaries mainly deal with insurance, banking, and financial services. The company was founded in 2004 as a regionally based property insurance business with its headquarters in Beijing. Its founding shareholders included state-owned car maker Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp., which held a 20% stake. In 2005 state-owned oil company Sinopec bought a 20% share.[1]
As of February 2015, the company had assets worth more than CN¥800 billion (US$123 billion).[2] The Financial Times has described Anbang as "one of China’s most politically connected companies."[3]
Anbang Insurance has more than 30,000 employees in China and is engaged in offering various kinds of insurance and financial products.[4][5]
The Chairman, Wu Xiaohui, was detained in Beijing by government authorities on June 8, 2017 as an investigation of Anbang's activities.[6]
Overseas acquisitions
The company holds a geographically diversified portfolio of assets in financial services real estate and lodging.
- In 2014, Anbang Insurance acquired Belgium insurer, Fidea Verzekeringen.
- In 2014, Anbang Insurance purchased the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel from Blackstone for nearly US$2 billion.
- In 2015 Anbang purchased Dutch insurer Vivat from the Dutch state. They paid €150m outright, and agreed to infuse between €770m and €1bn in fresh capital, and to take on €550m of debt.[7]
- In 2015 Anbang paid US$1 billion for a 57.5% stake in South Korea’s Tongyang Life, an insurance company, in what was reported to be the first direct investment in a South Korean financial institution by a mainland China entity.[8]
- In November 2015, Anbang announced that it would buy Iowa-based insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life for about $1.57 billion.[9]
- In February 2016, the Financial Post in Canada reported that is to purchase a 66% stake in four office towers of Bentall Centre in Vancouver from Ivanhoe Cambridge, a subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec[10]; and subsequently remaining 33% stake in May 2016[11]. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. But the price paid by Anbang is reported to value the property at over CAD$ 1 Billion.
- In March 2016, Blackstone agreed to a further US$6.5 billion sale of 16 landmark US hotels owned by the Strategic Hotels & Resorts REIT, including the historic Hotel del Coronado near San Diego, the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, several Four Seasons resorts, and Manhattan's JW Marriott Essex House hotel.[4][12]
- In April 2016, Anbang purchased Allianz’s South Korea operations.[13][14]
- In November 2016, the Globe&Mail reported that Anbang is buying a stake in Retirement Concepts, a Canadian company with 24 retirement homes in British Columbia, Calgary and Montreal. Anbang must obtain approval from the Canadian government to close the deal.[15]
Anbang has also made large-scale bids that did not culminate in a transaction. On March 14, 2016, a consortium led by Anbang made a US$14 Billion offer for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.[16] Other members of the consortium included J.C. Flowers & Co and Primavera Capital Group.[17][18] The latter is headed by Fred Hu, the former Chairman of Greater China at Goldman Sachs.[19][20] The bid was ultimately unsuccessful.[21] In 2017, the company also ended talks to invest billions of dollars in a Manhattan office tower (666 5th Avenue) owned by the family of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House aide.[22]
References
- ↑ "Chinese insurer has global ambitions". SFGate. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
- ↑ Massoudi, Arash (14 March 2016). "Anbang — the acquisitive insurer with ties to Deng Xiaoping". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
- ↑ Massoudi, Arash; Fontanella-Khan, James (2016-03-13). "China’s Anbang agrees $6.5bn hotel deal with Blackstone". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
- 1 2 "WSJ: What is Anbang Insurance?". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- ↑ Weinland, Don (July 17, 2016). "Financial Times: New wealth management products power Anbang and rivals". Retrieved July 18, 2016.
- ↑ Tsang, Aime. "Morning Agenda: Anbang Chairman Detained".
- ↑ "New York Waldorf hotel’s owner Anbang buys Dutch insurer Vivat - FT.com". Financial Times. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
- ↑ Mundy, Simon (2015-02-17). "China’s Anbang steps up buying spree with $1bn Tongyang deal". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
- ↑ "China's Anbang wins CFIUS approval to buy Fidelity & Guaranty Life". Reuters. 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
- ↑ "Chinese investors snag Vancouver’s biggest real estate prize: All four towers of the Bentall Centre". Financial Post. 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
- ↑ "Here's How Anbang Can Unwind Its $10 Billion Deal Spree". Bloomberg.com. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
- ↑ Yu, Hui-Yong (13 March 2016). "Blackstone Said to Sell Hotels to Anbang for $6.5 Billion". Bloomberg Business.
- ↑ Wu, Kane. "China’s Anbang to Buy Allianz’s Korean Operations After Dropping Starwood Bid". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
- ↑ Ralph, Oliver (2016-04-06). "Anbang to acquire Allianz’s South Korea operations". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
- ↑ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/chinese-company-anbang-buys-stake-in-bc-based-retirement-home-chain/article33065536/
- ↑ "Starwood receives nearly $14 billion buyout bid from Chinese group".
- ↑ "Anbang Insurance: The Chinese Company You Never Heard Of That's Trying To Take Over U.S. Hotels". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
- ↑ Ting, Deanna; 14, Skift-Mar; Pm, 2016 4:00. "New Starwood Takeover Bid: The Players Behind the $14 Billion Offer". Skift. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
- ↑ "Primavera Capital Group". www.primavera-capital.com. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
- ↑ Carew, Rick; Steinberg, Julie; Jamerson, Joshua. "Starwood Gets Offer From Group Led by Anbang, Threatening Marriott Deal". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
- ↑ Sender, Henny; Massoudi, Arash; Weinland, Don (2016-04-05). "Inside the deal: How Anbang’s chairman Wu nearly landed Starwood". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
- ↑ Forsythe, Michael; Bagli, Charles V. (2017-03-29). "No Deal Between Kushners and Chinese Company Over Fifth Avenue Skyscraper". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
