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Lender eyes up ING unit

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-22 11:00

Bank of Beijing Co, partly owned by ING Groep NV, is in talks to buy half of ING's life insurance venture on the Chinese mainland in what would be its second acquisition in three months.

Bank of Beijing is negotiating terms for Beijing Capital Group Co's 50 percent stake in ING Capital Life Insurance Co, according to a statement yesterday.

ING Groep, the biggest Dutch financial services firm, owns the other half of ING Capital Life, which was established in 2002 and had 2 billion yuan in premiums at the end of last year.

China is letting banks expand into brokering, fund management and insurance to help them become less reliant on income from lending. A 64 percent stock market drop this year has curbed mutual fund sales at banks, and a slowing economy is eroding demand for loans while pushing bad debts higher.

The nation's city banks, able to expand outside their hometowns since 2006, raised capital last year to fund new branches and acquisitions to compete with larger, better-capitalized rivals.

Bank of Beijing won approval in July to buy 20 percent of Langfang City Commercial Bank for 127.5 million yuan. The bank now has 131 branches in Beijing and outlets in Tianjin, Shanghai and Xi'an.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Construction Bank Corp, and Bank of Communications Ltd have also sought permission to invest in Chinese insurers, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said in July.

Agencies