Prudential Vies With FWD for Vietcombank Insurance Deal
Prudential Vies With FWD for Vietcombank Insurance Deal
(Bloomberg) -- Prudential Plc is vying with Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li’s FWD Group to become an insurance-distribution partner of Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam JSC, the nation’s biggest lender by market value, according to people familiar with the matter.
Prudential and FWD are among firms seeking to gain exclusive rights to distribute life insurance products through Vietcombank’s branch network, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Vietcombank is expected to receive an initial payment of about $400 million and could get more based on the performance of the business, the people said.
Credit Suisse Group AG has been advising Vietcombank on finding a new insurance-distribution partner, Bloomberg News first reported in June last year. A deal could be worth as much as $1 billion over the life of the contract, depending on how it is structured, the people said at the time.
Negotiations are still ongoing and no final decision has been made, the people said. Other bidders could still emerge, they said. Representatives for Prudential, FWD and Vietcombank declined to comment.
Insurers have been attracted to a growing middle class in Vietnam. Bank for Investment & Development of Vietnam is also exploring selling its stake in a life insurance joint venture with MetLife Inc., other people with knowledge of the matter have said.
Hanoi-based Vietcombank employs more than 15,000 staff, with over 500 outlets in the country’s capital and aboard, according to its website. In 2007, the bank formed a joint venture with BNP Paribas SA’s life insurance unit Cardif and Vietnamese lender SeABank to develop insurance products. Vietcombank has set a goal to become the nation’s No. 1 bank in 2020, its website shows.
--With assistance from Bei Hu.
To contact the reporters on this story: Joyce Koh in Singapore at jkoh38@bloomberg.net;Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen in Hanoi at uyen1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fion Li at fli59@bloomberg.net, Katrina Nicholas
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