KUALA LUMPUR: AMMB Holdings Bhd
’s (AMMB) 51 per cent-owned subsidiary, AmGeneral Holdings Bhd (AGHB) has entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Liberty Insurance Bhd (LIB), for the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, AmGeneral Insurance Bhd (AGIB).
AMMB said this follows through with regulatory approval received from the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
With regulatory approval in place, LIB will acquire 100 per cent of AGIB’s shares.
AGIB is currently 51 per cent-owned by AMMB and 49 per cent-owned by Insurance Australia Group (IAG).
"Upon completion of the deal, AMMB will receive its share of the sale proceeds in the form of cash and consideration shares.
"As a result, AMMB will hold a 30 per cent interest in the businesses of AGIB and LIB,” it said in a statement today.
AMMB said as part of the transaction, the company will enter into a 20-year new bancassurance partnership for the distribution of general insurance products.
The operations of AGIB and LIB will be formally merged at a subsequent date, which will be announced in due course.
AMMB group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said the group is pleased to proceed with this strategic sale of its general insurance business.
"The presence of a strong global market leader like Liberty is key to not only driving our general insurance business towards sustained growth but also for us to continue leading in this segment.
"As a result of this sale and the subsequent merger of operations, we will be able to leverage our complementary strengths to drive accelerated growth in the local insurance market, and together, we look to become Malaysia’s largest motor insurer and leading property and casualty insurer,” he said. - Bernama
