CPIC, China’s third largest life insurer, will now share the ownership of the mainland mutual fund joint venture with Allianz Group, a German insurer, which remains the minority shareholder.
The sale price was equal to the initial bid price submitted under the public tender at Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, since there was no other competitor, the Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed insurer said in a filing to the bourse.
Shenzhen-listed Guosheng Financial had entered a bit, but it was rejected. The firm did not meet the requirements as it was already the biggest shareholder of another mutual fund house in the mainland, Jiangxin Fund Management, according to its filing to the stock exchange. (in Chinese)
Guotai Junan announced in 2014 that it would increase to 40% its holdings in another mutual fund house, Huaan Funds, and become its biggest shareholder, but the transaction is still pending regulatory approval. The main obstacle is that a firm is not allowed to control two mutual fund houses in China.
GTJA Allianz Fund Management, set up in April 2003, is the first sino-foreign fund management joint venture in China. It has RMB41.1bn ($6.0bn) of assets under management in terms of mutual funds as of the end of last year, down from RMB44.1bn a year earlier.
Allianz Group has also formed a health insurance joint venture with CPIC in the late 2014.
In another recent deal in this sector, Power Corporation of Canada doubled its stake in China Asset Management (ChinaAMC), the second largest onshore mutual fund house, to 20% in December 2016.
