NDB group earnes a net receipt of US$59 mn
Concludes deal with AIA Group:
Following a strategic rearrangement of investments within the Group,
NDB recently entered into a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement with AIA
Group Limited (AIA), which is headquartered in Hong Kong, whereby NDB
Group agreed to sell its shareholding in the Aviva NDB Holdings Lanka
(Private) Limited (Aviva NDB Holdings or ANI) to AIA.
In September 2012, AIA agreed to acquire a 92.3 per cent stake in ANI,
representing both NDB Group’s shareholding as well as the shareholding
in ANI of British insurer Aviva.
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H. T. Phong, Regional Chief executive of AIA with Russel de Mel,
CEO of NDB after the signing of the transaction with senior
representatives from AIA / ANI and the NDB Group. |
Having met the necessary regulatory and legal requirements, the
transaction has now reached finality and thereby NDB group earned a net
receipt of US$59 Mn arising from the transaction.
With the objective of continuing to provide all financial services
under one roof, NDB also entered into an exclusive Bancassurance
agreement with AIA for a period of 20 years. The long term arrangement
stands witness to the commitment of NDB group and the new controlling
shareholder, AIA to continue to provide their customers with a wideand
leading range of Insurance products.
Pursuant to this transaction, as part of the group’s plans t o
realign the resources gained from the above sales proceeds, NDB entered
into a second transaction to purchase the balance of the shareholding of
NDB Aviva Wealth Management PLC from AIA.
With the completion of this transaction, NDB Capital Holdings which
now owns 100% of the Wealth Management arm of the group will be able to
further harness the strengths of the wealth management portfolio of the
company, thus consolidating its position as the market leader in Wealth
Management in Sri Lanka. Concurrently, a fund management agreement has
also been placed to manage ANI’s insurance funds exclusively for a
period of 20 years.
Commenting on this transaction, CEO of NDB Group, Mr. Russell De Mel
said, “We are indeed pleased to have finalized our agreement with AIA,
one of the world’s leading insurance companies.
Our partnership with AIA will further strengthen NDB group’s current
success in the Bancassurance and insurance arena.
Through the agreement, Insurance, the third pillar of the NDB Group,
will continue to exist with an even stronger alliance in Bancassurance
with AIA.
The net receipts of US $ 59Mn, arising out of these transactions,
have given an opportunity for the NDB Group to further strengthen the
strategic alliances within the financial services sector whilst
enhancing and releasing core capital; a prerequisite to boost organic
and inorganic growth of the NDB Group.
This is very timely to take on the emerging opportunities to become a
significant national and regional player in the financial sector and
contribute further to the growth of Sri Lanka”. |
