Investment firm Fosun shopping overseas for insurance firms
Shanghai-based firm's acquisition wish listalso includes a HK brokerage and a bank
Fosun International will use its Portuguese insurance firms' kitty of €12.6 billion (HK$128.9 billion) to invest in property and stocks in Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development countries to reduce its gearing ratio, chief executive Leo Liang Xinjun said yesterday.
"We are very interested in investing in insurance firms," Liang said. "We want to increase our pool of investment funds."
The Shanghai-based investment firm would use funds from US insurer Ironshore, in which it acquired a 20 per cent stake this month, to make investments around the world, said Fosun's co-founding chairman, Guo Guangchang.
Fosun chief financial officer Ding Guoqi said it would also use the US$150 million fund of its Hong Kong insurance company, Peak Reinsurance, to make international investments.
Liang said Fosun was also acquiring a controlling stake in an unnamed, unlisted Hong Kong securities firm to take advantage of the planned through train stock trading scheme between Shanghai and Hong Kong. He declined to reveal more details because the deal has not been announced through the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Fosun, which is listed in Hong Kong, was also interested in investing in a privately held Shanghai bank, which would offer synergies in insurance and investment, Liang added.