China’s Anbang Insurance Group which in early April pledged to buy Allianz Life Insurance Korea Co., a life insurance unit of Germany-based financial services giant Allianz Group, for a mere $3 million is raising speculation it may not see through the acquisition.

According to the Korean financial authority on Sunday, Angbang Insurance so far has not filed for application for government’s approval for the purchase that drew controversy for an overly cheap buyout of the 11th-largest insurer with assets over 16.65 trillion won ($15 billion). Enterprises or individuals that plan to become a major shareholder in Korean large-sized financial enterprise must come under scrutiny by the local authority.

The Chinese company has been unusually slow in moving on Allianze Life. For Tongyang Life Insurance it acquired last year, the company sought government approval a month after it announced the plan in February. The acquisition was completed by September last year.

Chinese insurers may have lost their appetite for Korean counterparts after a frenzied interest. Anbang was absent in the tender for ING Life Insurance Korea. There had been a prediction that the Anbang has the ambition to become a major player in the Korean life insurance market by acquiring ING Life, Allianze Life, and Tongyang Life.

The company expanded in explosive pace in recent years under an aggressive expansionist campaign by its chairman Wu Xiaohui, married to a granddaughter of Deng Xiaoping.

It may have decided to take a breather in overseas acquisitions to meet the tougher capital adequacy ratio of the new accounting rule, the phase II of International Financial Reporting Standards 4 that goes into effect in 2020.

The insurance group also may be considering to broadening its portfolio beyond the insurance segment with eyes on the majority stake sale in Wooribank. The Chinese insurer said its will on Allianz Life remains intact but declined to comment further.

Some industry watchers even predict that the Chinese insurer has given up on the Allianz Life Insurance Korea deal. The damages will not be much for Anbang Insurance even if it revokes the purchase agreement, given the small size of the deal.

By Park Joon-hyung

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]