China’s Minsheng Life Gets New Shareholders

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission has cleared Zhejiang Hangmin Industry Group Co. Ltd. and Tonglian Capital Management Co. Ltd. to buy 458 million shares of Minsheng Life Insurance Co. that were originally held by Beijing-based real estate developer China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co.

Following completion of the share transfer, Zhejing Hangmin and Tonglian Capital will respectively hold 242 million shares and 268 million shares, or 8.98% and 9.91% of the total shares of the insurer, said the regulator.

China Oceanwide Holdings will no longer have a stake in Minsheng Life Insurance, noted the regulator.

Attempts to reach Minsheng Life Insurance for further comment were not successful.

Beijing-based Minsheng Life was established in 2002 with registered capital of 2.7 billion yuan (US$396 million). By the end of 2008, the insurer had 18 provincial branches in Beijing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hebei, Shandong, Fujian, Liaoning, Sichuan, Henan, Shanghai, Heilongjiang, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Guangxi, Shaanxi, Hubei and Shanxi.

According to the CIRC, by the end of 2009 Minsheng Life had total cumulative original premium income of 4.86 billion yuan.

(By Rebecca Ng, Hong Kong news editor: Rebecca.Ng@ambest.com)