Bidders for Commonwealth Bank of Australia's life insurance unit had until September 14 to submit their final offers. Two industry giants are slugging it out over the asset, according to reports.
Among the favorites to submit binding offers for the business are Swiss giant Zurich Insurance, which is being advised by Credit Suisse, and AIA Group, advised by Deutsche Bank and Citigroup. AIA may have pipped the Swiss firm, according to reports in «The Australian», but this has not been confirmed.
The prize comes in the form of CommInsure, the Australian operations, and Sovereign, New Zealand's largest life insurance business, which together are estimated to come with a price tag of $4 billion to $5 billion.
U.S. bank J.P. Morgan is overseeing the life insurance auction and Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA's) preference is said to be to sell the Australian and New Zealand units in one tranche, although binding bids will be accepted for the two entities, according to an article in the «Australian Financial Review» (behind paywall).
Backing Away
The U.S. firm MetLife dropped out from CBA's auction last month after the bank was hit with court action related to allegations CBA failed to comply with anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regulations.
finews.asia will bring news on another potentially large deal as final bids for ANZ Banking Group's wealth business, which includes life insurance, funds management and dealer groups, are due by close of business September 15. It is thought that MetLife and Zurich, who both made it through to the second round will fight for the unit which is also estimated to garner a price of $4 billion to $5 billion.
