Insurance giants jostle for slice of Southeast Asia market

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) - The race to win a bigger slice of Southeast Asia's insurance market is heating up as AIA Group, Manulife and Prudential PLC compete for mid-size acquisitions in the region totalling up to $1 billion, sources said.

The three insurance groups as well as France's AXA and Canada's Sun Life have submitted initial bids for the Malaysian life insurance joint venture between CIMB Group and Aviva, a deal estimated to be worth at least $400 million, the sources, who had direct knowledge of the matter, said.