AIA Insurance Lanka in fresh bid to go private; offers Rs.2, 500 per share

AIA Insurance Lanka PLC has upped its offer to the firm’s minority shareholders considerably in a fresh attempt to take the company private, following a failed bid to do the same in August last year.

The insurer yesterday informed the Colombo Stock Exchange that it has decided to re-seek the shareholder approval for delisting of shares of the company from the official list of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) subject to regulatory approval. 

An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on the matter will be held on March 27, 2019.

The insurer has substantially upped the offer to Rs.2, 500 per share from the Rs.1, 000 offered in August.

AIA Insurance Lanka said the delisting resolution proposed at the EGM held in August 2018 could not be adopted since the required majority by a head count via a vote on a show of hands, could not be obtained due to the views of certain shareholders on the method of valuation that had been used for determining the previous offer price of Rs.1, 000 for the company’s shares.

“While taking due account of the opinion of the independent experts who have each unanimously confirmed the fairness of the previous offer price, the company, in line with its commitment to the Sri Lankan market, has negotiated a voluntary ex-gratia increase of Rs.1, 500 over the last offer price of Rs.1, 000 per share, resulting in the revised offer price of Rs.2, 500 per share,” the company said in a press release.  

The company also emphasized that this revised offer of Rs.2, 500 per share is final and no subsequent voluntary delisting offers shall be forthcoming. 
“AIA is fully committed to continued growth and investment in Sri Lanka for the benefit of our customers, as well as for the local community and economy. 

Our intent to delist will not impact AIA’s operations in Sri Lanka. We have invested heavily to provide our customers with leading products and services and we will continue to help many more people here live healthier, longer, better lives,” AIA Insurance Lanka Chairman William Lisle, said.

AIA Insurance Lanka’s parent, AIA Company Limited, owns little over 97 percent of the issued shares of the company.

AIA Group and subsidiaries comprise the largest independent publicly listed Pan-Asian Life Insurance Group. It has a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific— wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, Cambodia— a 97.16 percent subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 49 percent joint venture in India and a representative office in Myanmar.