Prudential plc announces the sale of Prudential Vietnam Finance Company Ltd and a new long-term bancassurance partnership in Vietnam and Indonesia with Shinhan Financial Group



HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 23 January 2018 - Prudential plc ("Prudential"), a UK-based financial services group, has reached an agreement to sell 100% of its consumer finance business in Vietnam, Prudential Vietnam Finance Company Limited ("PVFC"), for a consideration of US$151 million, subject to regulatory approvals.  The agreement is with Shinhan Card Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Shinhan Financial Group ("Shinhan"), a leading Korean financial institution.


Prudential and Shinhan have also agreed a new long-term bancassurance partnership in Vietnam and Indonesia.


PVFC was launched in 2006 as the first foreign, non-bank financial institution licensed for consumer finance lending in Vietnam.  Today it is the fourth largest consumer finance company by outstanding loan balance.

 

Prudential and Shinhan will work closely to ensure a smooth transition of the business. PVFC remains committed to all of its customer obligations and operations will continue as normal until the transaction has been completed.

 

Prudential remains fully committed to the Vietnamese market through its life insurance business, Prudential Vietnam Assurance Private Limited, and asset management business, Eastspring Investments Fund Management Company (Vietnam).

 

Nic Nicandrou, Chief Executive of Prudential Corporation Asia commented: "PVFC is a high quality business but is not core to our strategy in Vietnam. We are delighted that Shinhan will be able to lead this consumer finance business through to the next stage of its development. Vietnam remains an attractive and important market to Prudential where we have high quality and fast-growing life insurance and asset management operations.

 

"As part of this transaction, we are further expanding our regional platform through the new long-term bancassurance partnership with Shinhan in both Vietnam and Indonesia to continue serving the growing savings and protection needs of the Asian population."

 

About Prudential Corporation Asia ("PCA")

 

PCA is a business unit of Prudential plc* (United Kingdom), comprising its life insurance operations in Asia and its asset management business, Eastspring Investments. It is headquartered in Hong Kong.

 

PCA is a leading life insurer that spans 12 markets in Asia, covering Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Prudential has a robust multi-channel distribution platform providing a comprehensive range of protection, savings and investment products to meet the diverse needs of Asian people.

 

Eastspring Investments manages assets on behalf of retail and institutional investors. It is one of the region's largest asset managers, with a presence in 10 major Asian markets as well as distribution offices in the US and Europe. It has £131 billion in assets under management (as at 30 June 2017) and provides investment solutions across a broad range of asset classes.

 

*Prudential plc is incorporated in England and Wales, and its affiliated companies constitute one of the world's leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financial services through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world. It has been in existence for 169 years and has £635 billion in assets under management (as at 30 June 2017). Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.

 

Prudential plc is listed on the stock exchanges of London (PRU.L), Hong Kong (2378.HK), Singapore (K6S.SG) and New York (PUK.N).

 

About Shinhan Financial Group

 

Shinhan Financial Group is a leading financial institution in Korea with a diversified business portfolio across banking, credit cards, securities brokerage, life insurance, asset management and leasing. Shinhan Financial Group is one of the largest financial institutions by market capitalisation in Korea, and Shinhan Card is the largest credit card company in the country. Shinhan Financial Group has had a presence in Vietnam since 1993 and in Indonesia since 2015.  


Forward-Looking Statements


This document may contain 'forward-looking statements' with respect to certain of Prudential's plans and its goals and expectations relating to its future financial condition, performance, results, strategy and objectives. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Prudential's beliefs and expectations and including, without limitation, statements containing the words 'may', 'will', 'should', 'continue', 'aims', 'estimates', 'projects', 'believes', 'intends', 'expects', 'plans', 'seeks' and 'anticipates', and words of similar meaning, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on plans, estimates and projections as at the time they are made, and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on them. By their nature, all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty. A number of important factors could cause Prudential's actual future financial condition or performance or other indicated results to differ materially from those indicated in any forward-looking statement. Such factors include, but are not limited to, future market conditions, including fluctuations in interest rates and exchange rates the potential for a sustained low-interest rate environment, and the performance of financial markets generally; the policies and actions of regulatory authorities, including, for example, new government initiatives; the political, legal and economic effects of the UK's decision to leave the European Union; the impact of continuing designation as a Global Systemically Important Insurer or 'G-SII'; the impact of competition, economic uncertainty, inflation and deflation; the effect on Prudential's business and results from, in particular, mortality and morbidity trends, lapse rates and policy renewal rates; the timing, impact and other uncertainties of future acquisitions or combinations within relevant industries; the impact of internal projects and other strategic actions failing to meet their objectives; the impact of changes in capital, solvency standards, accounting standards or relevant regulatory frameworks, and tax and other legislation and regulations in the jurisdictions in which Prudential and its affiliates operate; and the impact of legal and regulatory actions, investigations and disputes. These and other important factors may, for example, result in changes to assumptions used for determining results of operations or re-estimations of reserves for future policy benefits. Further discussion of these and other important factors that could cause Prudential's actual future financial condition or performance or other indicated results to differ, possibly materially, from those anticipated in Prudential's forward-looking statements can be found under the 'Risk Factors' heading in this document.

 

Any forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the date on which they are made. Prudential expressly disclaims any obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this document or any other forward-looking statements it may make, whether as a result of future events, new information or otherwise except as required pursuant to the UK Prospectus Rules, the UK Listing Rules, the UK Disclosure and Transparency Rules, the Hong Kong Listing Rules, the SGX-ST listing rules or other applicable laws and regulations.

 



The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
SOURCE:

Prudential plc

CATEGORY:

Business

 
PUBLISHED ON:

23 Jan 2018

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