Anbang explores sale of Manhattan office tower, Chinese insurer as it unwinds overseas acquisitions
- Manhattan office building houses the Beijing-based conglomerate’s US headquarters
- Anbang is also in advanced talks to sell its domestic health insurer Hexie Health to Fujia Group, which interests ranging from petrochemicals to finance
Anbang Insurance Group, which symbolised the era of mega-acquisitive Chinese companies that later had to reverse their buying binges, is continuing to whittle down its empire.
The Beijing-based conglomerate is exploring the sale of the Manhattan office building that houses its US headquarters, according to people with knowledge of the plans. It’s also in advanced talks to sell its domestic health-insurance arm to Fujia Group, a petrochemicals-to-finance group in northeastern China’s Liaoning province, other people familiar with the matter said.
After being temporarily seized by the nation’s insurance regulator last year and having its former chairman Wu Xiaohui sentenced to prison for fraud, Anbang has been accelerating efforts to sell assets and deleverage. The company made global headlines in 2014 with the trophy purchase of New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, and then went on to snap up marquee assets around the world before landing in the crosshairs of Chinese regulators.
A sale of Hexie Health Insurance would be Anbang’s first major local asset disposal. Fujia has been negotiating final details of an agreement to buy Hexie Health, though the potential deal could still fall apart, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Representatives for Anbang declined to comment on either Hexie Health or the proposed Manhattan transaction.