A strategic move byChina Ping An to acquireFortis shares will givethe insurer access tomore than 30 countries,including maturemarkets in Europe andthe United States, as wellas in emerging marketslike India and Russia.
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co.of China Ltd., a major Chineseinsurer, jointly declared on April 2with Fortis that the two parties hadsigned a final agreement on establishinga global assets management partnership.According to the agreement, Ping An willacquire a 50-percent equity stake in Fortis"assets management unit, Fortis Investments,for 2.15 billion euros (about 24.02 billionyuan), payable in cash against completionof the transaction. This is the first overseasinvestment project for Ping An since it gotinto hot water over its massive refinancingscheme in January.