Talanx May Raise PVI Stake as Vietnam Insurance Market Grows - Bloomberg

By Bloomberg News -

PVI Holdings (PVI), Vietnam's second- largest publicly traded insurer, plans to sell another 6 percent stake to Germany's Talanx AG by the end of this month, Chairman Nguyen Anh Tuan said.

Talanx subsidiary HDI-Gerling Industrie Versicherung AG will hold the stake, Tuan said in a telephone interview from Hanoi today. He declined to disclose the price.

"Apart from Talanx, many other foreign investors are also interested in buying a stake of PVI, however, because of the room limited at 49 percent for foreigners, we will sell the stake to the existing strategic partner," Tuan said.

Talanx bought 25 percent of Hanoi-based PVI in August for 1.9 trillion dong ($91 million) to seek a foothold in the Southeast Asian nation's growing non-life insurance market. Insurance Australia Group Ltd. (IAG) last month bought 30 percent of AAA Assurance Corp.

"Vietnam's insurance market has great potential to develop with growth pace two to three times higher than GDP," said Nguyen Thu Ha, an analyst who covers the insurance market at Bao Viet Securities Co. (BVS) in Hanoi.

Non-life insurance revenue in Vietnam may increase 20 percent to about 24.2 trillion dong in 2012, according to a report on the Association of Vietnamese Insurers' website.

Vietnam's gross domestic product rose 4 percent in the first quarter, the lowest rate of expansion since 2009.

Hannover, Germany-based Talanx, the nation's third-biggest insurer, is restructuring its German retail business as it prepares for an initial public offering.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Nguyen Kieu Giang in Hanoi at giang1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net