French insurer AXA is weighing a sale of its Singapore unit as it eyes funds by offloading peripheral operations, Bloomberg has reported.
According to people familiar with the matter, the insurance firm is currently in discussions with an adviser on the potential sale.
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The Singapore business provides life and property and casualty insurance and as per Axa’s annual report has reported €615m ($725.2m) of revenue last year. It is anticipated to attract competitors looking to bolster their presence in Southeast Asia.
The Bloomberg report said that the company may initiate the divestment process in the next few weeks.
However, people familiar with the issue said that no final decision has been made. There is no assurance that the deliberations will materialise in a transaction, they added.
Meanwhile, AXA and a local partner are reportedly considering a possible sale of their life and general insurance venture in Malaysia.
Recently, the insurer called off the deal to sell its AXA Life Europe (ALE) business to private equity firm Cinven. AXA said that certain closing conditions for the deal had not been met by the agreed long stop date.
AXA reported a 40% slump in first half net income as it booked a €1.5bn charge for Covid-19 related claims.
Earlier this year, AXA entered into a deal to sell its operations in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia to UNIQA Insurance Group for €1bn.
The move is part of the company’s wider restructuring initiative to exit markets where it lacks scale.
