AIA, Manulife bid for SCB life unit

AIA Group Ltd and Manulife Financial Corp are among bidders for Siam Commercial Bank’s life insurance operations in what could be the biggest-ever acquisition of a Southeast Asian insurer, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi is partnering with Singapore’s Great Eastern Holdings Ltd on a non-binding offer, while Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li’s FWD Group and, separately, Prudential have also bid, according to the people. Bidders for SCB Life Assurance Plc are expected to be shortlisted this month, sources said.

A deal could give the life insurance business a valuation of at least USD3 billion (THB105 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said earlier. Siam Commercial, Thailand’s third-largest lender, has been considering selling a stake in the operations as well as granting access to sell insurance products through its branches, the people said at the time.

Global insurers have been seeking ways to expand their reach selling products via lenders with large Asian branch networks. German’s Allianz SE announced a 15-year agreement last month to distribute products through Standard Chartered Plc’s outlets in Asia. Sompo Holdings Inc’s so-called bancassurance agreement last year gives the Japanese firm access to CIMB Group Holdings Bhd branches in Southeast Asia.

A deal for the SCB unit — at a USD3 billion valuation — could be bigger than Li’s USD2.1-billion acquisition of ING Groep NV insurance units in 2013 that created FWD Group, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Li’s deal for operations in Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand is the largest insurance purchase that includes Southeast Asian assets, the data show.

Any stake sale would follow USD2.2 billion of investments in Thai financial firms over the past 12 months, up from USD738 million during the preceding period, according to the data.