Shares of Genworth Financial Inc. jumped more than 27% to start the June 11 trading day after news broke over the previous weekend that a key federal regulator finally approved the insurer's long-delayed merger with a Chinese investment company.
After numerous withdrawals and refilings of their application to merge, Genworth and China Oceanwide Holdings Ltd. finally received word that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS, signed off on the deal. The committee had held up the transaction for a considerable period of time due to national security concerns. In order to get approval, Genworth agreed to use a U.S.-based third-party service provider to protect its policyholders' personal data.
The two companies most recently extended their merger agreement deadline to July 1 to give the regulator more time to consider the deal.
While the transaction still requires several regulatory approvals in the U.S. from state insurance commissioners, China and other international markets, CFIUS' approval marks a significant hurdle cleared by the companies.
Shares of Genworth were up by 27.43% at $4.87 as of 10:10 a.m. ET.
