Pan-Asian life insurer FWD Group Holdings Limited has announced that it has entered into subscription agreements with a number of investors, including reinsurer Swiss Re.
Together, the investors agreed to participate in private placements which are to raise US $1.425 billion in aggregate.
The private placements will take the form of cash subscription of new ordinary shares to be issued by FWD, and the proceeds will be used to provide additional capital to support FWD’s growth momentum and to reduce leverage.
In addition to Swiss Re, investors include retirement services company Athene Holding Ltd., through an investment allocated by its asset manager Apollo, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments).
And Li Ka Shing Foundation, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), Pacific Century Group, The Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited (SCB) will also participate.
“We’re very excited to welcome new and existing partners to invest in FWD,” said Huynh Thanh Phong, Group Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of FWD.
“They bring significant expertise and extensive network to support our continued growth and enhance our distribution and investment capabilities. These latest investments in FWD reflect a recognition of our ability to continue our strong growth momentum in the attractive Asian life insurance sector.”
“Our strong performance has continued into 2021, with our value of new business1 growing 45%2 YoY in 1H21, followed by a 21%2 YoY growth in 3Q21, driven by strong organic growth during this period which is particularly impressive given the challenging operating environment including the impact of COVID-19 in several of our key markets.”
