Billionaire Li Nears Deal to Buy CBA's Indonesia Unit

(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Richard Li’s FWD Group is nearing an agreement to buy control of Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Indonesian life insurance arm, people familiar with the matter said, in a deal that would boost the tycoon’s presence in one of the fastest-growing insurance markets.

A deal could be announced as soon as this week, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. A sale of CBA’s 80 percent stake in the business could fetch about $400 million, people with knowledge of the matter said in June.

Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn is overhauling Australia’s largest lender, with plans to spin off its wealth management and mortgage broking operations. Other suitors for the Indonesian venture included PT Asuransi Jiwa Sequis Life, the insurer part-owned by Nippon Life Insurance Co., Canada’s Sun Life Financial Inc. and Singapore’s Great Eastern Holdings Ltd., Bloomberg News reported last month.

Representatives for FWD and CBA declined to comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Joyce Koh in Singapore at jkoh38@bloomberg.net;Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;Emily Cadman in Sydney at ecadman2@bloomberg.net;Fathiya Dahrul in Jakarta at fdahrul@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, ;Marcus Wright at mwright115@bloomberg.net, ;Thomas Kutty Abraham at tabraham4@bloomberg.net, Timothy Sifert

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