(Credit: Allison Bell/ALM)
Genworth Financial Inc. and China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. Ltd. today announced they have extended their merger negotiations agreement to Dec. 31.
The agreement was set to expire today.
China Oceanwide has been trying to acquire Genworth since October 2016. The companies said they now have received most of the regulatory approvals they need to consummate the $2.7 billion deal.
Genworth, a Richmond, Virginia-based insurer that has been a major issuer of life insurance and annuities, helped create the U.S. long-term care insurance (LTCI) market, and it continues to be a major mortgage insurance provider. The company continues to write some LTCI coverage and still has large closed blocks of life insurance and annuity business.
China Oceanwide is a Beijing-based real estate developer and financial services company, with commercial real estate properties and construction projects all over the world.
The companies said today that China's National Development and Reform Commission has now extended acceptance of China Oceanwide's Genworth acquisition filing.
The companies said that, to complete the deal, they still need:
- Approval from China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange for China Oceanwide to convert Chinese currency into dollars and transfer the cash.
- Confirmation from the Delaware Department of Insurance that its earlier approval of the China Oceanwide-Genworth still applies.
The companies also need the blessing of regulators in Delaware because a major Genworth life insurance subsidiary has its official state of domicile in Delaware.
Genworth said Nov. 2 that it believed China Oceanwide had made significant progress in obtaining funding from Hony Capital, a private equity affiliate of Legend Holdings, which is a big Chinese investment company.
Hony Capital has big stakes in companies such as WeWork and PizzaExpress.
