Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. has been in talks to acquire Huaxia Life Insurance Co. Ltd. since 2018, but no progress has been made due to price issues, the South China Morning Post reported.
Beijing-based Huaxia Life says it has 500 billion yuan in assets and about 500,000 employees in 24 branches, people familiar with the matter said.
The news comes nearly two years after it was announced that Zhongtian Financial Group Company Ltd. agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Huaxia Life for 31 billion yuan. The deal has not yet closed as Zhongtian had not been able to divest its assets to pay for the stake, according to the report.
The potential deal with Ping An marks the Chinese financial authorities' latest attempt to break up missing Chinese financier Xiao Jianhua's financial empire. During the 2017 Lunar New Year, Xiao was asked to leave Hong Kong and return to China to assist with investigations into his financial affairs.
Ping An Co-CEO Jessica Tan Sin-yin said the company does not comment on rumors. Huaxia Life declined to comment.
As of Aug. 21, US$1 was equivalent to 7.06 Chinese yuan.
