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Japanese insurer to buy BoCommLife stake; Indonesian insurer prices IPO

S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of insurance news stories and more published throughout the week. Please note that some entries may have links to third-party sources that may require a subscription.

Bids, deals and more

* Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. agreed to acquire Commonwealth Bank of Australia's 37.5% stake in Bank of Communications Co. Ltd. unit BoCommLife Insurance Co. Ltd. for ¥70 billion.

* A Mitsui Sumitomo spokesman said the insurer has no plans to acquire a majority stake in BoCommLife at the moment.

* China's Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd. is selling its 91.65% stake in Century Securities Co. Ltd. for at least 3.56 billion yuan in the insurer's first asset divestment after local authorities seized control of the insurer in February for breaching insurance laws.

* Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. is reportedly weighing bids from Fidelity Life Assurance Co. Ltd., Cigna Life Insurance New Zealand Ltd. and Partners Life Ltd. for the purchase of its New Zealand-based life insurance business, OnePath Life.

* Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd. joined the race for the acquisition of a significant stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co. Ltd. The insurer reportedly matched Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd.'s bid for an undisclosed stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance.

* State Bank of India reportedly plans to divest stakes in units SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd., SBI Card and SBI Capital Markets Ltd. over the next two years.

* India's insurance regulator reportedly wants state-run general insurers National Insurance Co. Ltd., United India Insurance Co. Ltd. and Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. to raise 100 billion rupees in capital before their planned merger.

* U.S.-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC reportedly made the highest offer to acquire the 26% stake in IndiaFirst Life Insurance Co. Ltd. owned by Legal & General Group PLC.

* Australian investment firm Yorkway Capital Partners acquired a minority stake in Insurance House, a private general insurance brokerage and underwriting business.

* Germany-based Allianz Group completed the sale of part of its traditional life insurance portfolio in Taiwan to China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Legal, regulatory developments

* Wang Yincheng, former president of People's Insurance Co. (Group) of China Ltd. was reportedly sentenced to 11 years in prison after the Intermediate People's Court of Fuzhou in China's Fujian Province found him guilty of accepting bribes.

* The Monetary Authority of Singapore banned two former representatives of Prudential Assurance Co. Singapore (Pte) Ltd. and three former representatives of AIA Singapore Pte. Ltd. for misselling investment products.

* The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India is likely to accept a recommendation to remove General Insurance Corp. of India's first preference over foreign reinsurers in certain business segments such as aviation, marine hull and life.

Earnings corner

* MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. reported a 26.8% year-over-year decline in net income for the fiscal year ended March 31 to ¥154.06 billion from ¥210.45 billion in the prior-year period.

* For the same fiscal year, Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.'s consolidated net income attributable to owners rose to ¥284.18 billion from ¥273.86 billion.

* Sompo Holdings Inc. posted a 16% year-over-year decline in net profit for the fiscal year, citing the impact from hurricanes in North America and large losses.

In other news

* PT Asuransi Tugu Pratama Indonesia Tbk reportedly priced its IPO of 177.78 million new shares at 3,850 rupiah per share. The company had set during its book building an indicative price range of between 3,850 rupiah and 5,000 rupiah per share.

* U.K.-based GFG Alliance, which has industrial, energy, natural resources and financial services businesses, reportedly plans to expand its banking and insurance arms into Australia.

* Generali CEO Philippe Donnet said the insurer is aiming to expand its operations in parts of Asia and Latin America.

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