AMAB Holdings Sdn. Bhd., a wholly owned subsidiary of AMMB Holdings Berhad said it has entered into an Implementation Agreement with MetLife International Holdings, LLC, Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad, and Great Eastern Takaful Berhad for the proposed sale of AmMetLife Insurance Berhad and AmMetLife Takaful Berhad for approximately RM1.12 billion.
In the current ownership structure, ownership of AML and AMT is split evenly between AMAB and MetLife. AMAB holds 50% minus one share in AML, and MetLife owns the remaining 50% plus one share. Conversely, in AMT, AMAB owns 50% plus one share, and MetLife has 50% minus one share. Upon securing the necessary regulatory approvals, the involved parties will proceed with a sale and purchase agreement. Under this arrangement, GELM and GETB will purchase 100% of the share
capital of AML and AMT.
Post-acquisition, AML, and AMT will be merged and integrated with GELM and GETB, respectively. The proposed sale will also see AMMB Group entering into a 20-year new bancassurance and bancatakaful partnership.
AMMB Group Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said, “The alignment of AmMetLife and AmMetLife Takaful with Great Eastern, a frontrunner in the insurance landscape of Malaysia and Asia, paves the way for us to foster robust growth and sustainable scalability. This synergistic integration will provide us with the advantage of securing economies of scale that will translate into superior customer value, enhanced by our combined and complementary capabilities in product
design, digital innovation and distribution expertise.”
“We are genuinely excited about the potential this alliance holds. It is not just about business growth; it is about transforming the customer experience. We are committed to utilising this strategic collaboration as a springboard for innovation, developing tailored solutions to meet the needs of our diverse customers at different life stages in the Malaysian market,” he added.
This comes after the Singapore-based Great Eastern Holdings said it is in talks to buy MetLife Malaysian ventures in a deal that could value AmMetLife Insurance at up to US$300 million as reported by Bloomberg.
It reported that according to sources, OCBC is conducting due diligence on AmMetLife Insurance and is seeking regulatory approval to clinch the deal, the people said. A transaction could value AmMetLife which the US company jointly owns with public listed AMMB Holdings at between US250 million to US$300 million the people said.
In 2022 Zurich Insurance was vying for a majority stake in the insurance outfit.
