Angbang makes USD1 bn bid

China's Anbang Insurance Group Co is bidding to buy Japanese property asset manager Simplex Investment Advisors, fsources said, in a deal that could top USD1 billion.

If successful, Simplex would be Anbang's first real estate foray into Japan where the market has been booming on the back of the economic stimulus policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

These competitors include U.S. investment fund Fortress Investment Group, Blackstone Group, and Elliot Management, people with knowledge of the matter had told Reuters.

Anbang Chairman Wu Xiaohui has said he wants the insurer to own companies in "all the world's continents". He has also said he intends to list the insurer on a number of global capital markets.