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Standard Life seals Bank of China deal
INSURER Standard Life is in the final stages of selling a majority stake of its Chinese joint venture Heng An Standard Life to Bank of China.
The group announced yesterday thatChinese regulators are set to approve the transaction, which would leave Standard Life with a smaller stake in an enlarged business.
If approved, the deal would boost Heng An’s distribution reach and turn the arm – currently a 50-50 venture between Standard Life and Teda International, a Chinese state investment agency – into a domestic player.
Chairman of the group Gerry Grimstone is currently with business secretary Lord Mandelson on a five-day trip to China. The group wants to become one of the top five foreign insurance players in China by 2013.