Britain's Aviva Plc is considering a comeback in Asia's general insurance business, five years after it sold its regional operations to Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group (MSIG). "We are looking at our options around general insurance across a number of markets," Simon Machell, the company's chief executive for Asia Pacific, told Reuters in an interview.
Aviva sold its general insurance businesses in Asia to MSIG for 249 million pounds, (valued at about $450 million then) in September 2004, in a move that saw the transfer of its non-life operations in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia to the Japanese insurer. As part of the sale, Aviva, the world's fifth largest insurer by premiums, agreed not to compete with MSIG in for five years in these areas, Machell said.
Sales of life insurance and savings products account for more than 95 percent of Aviva's Asian business, he added. Machell said the insurer was keen to further expand in China, and it hoped to increase its stake in its India joint venture to 49 percent from 26 percent when India raises the investment limit for foreign insurers.
He, however, declined to comment on a Reuters report that the company was planning to sell its Australian business, valued at up to A$1 billion ($735 million). Earlier this week, Aviva opened an office in China's Hubei province, expanding its presence in the world's most populous country to 40 branches in 10 provinces. Machell said sales of life insurance and pension products in India had fallen as the weakness in financial markets sapped demand for investment products. But he said Aviva was keen to expand in India because of its large population and growing middle class.
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