Cathay Life Insurance Company is acquiring insurance asset manager Conning Holdings Corporation from Aquiline Capital Partners for up to $240m under an agreement announced today.
Cathay Life is a subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holding Company, based in Taipei, Taiwan.
Aquiline is a private equity group, based in New York.
Following the closing, the announcement said, Conning will operate as an independent company within the Cathay group and be governed by its own board of directors. Conning will be led by its current president and CEO, Woody Bradford, and the existing management team.
"Cathay has been a client, shareholder and strategic partner of Conning since 2011," said Hong-tu Tsai, chairman of Cathay. "We are excited to broaden our relationship with Conning and support the leadership team as they continue to build the business, both organically and through acquisitions, across markets in Asia, Europe and North America."
In Asia Pacific, Cathay Conning Asset Management (a joint venture between Conning and Cathay) will remain a core part of Conning's strategy, providing global investment and advisory solutions from its offices in Hong Kong. In the US and Europe, Conning will continue to operate from Hartford, New York, Cologne and London.
The announcement added: "The transaction will allow both Conning and Cathay to broaden the capabilities available to their clients, support their growth in the third-party asset management market and benefit from the resources and expertise of each organisation. Cathay has also expanded its investment management agreement with Conning to include additional asset commitments and growth capital."
Conning has been a top-ranked insurance asset manager for many years. In 2009, the year it was acquired by Aquiline, the Hartford-based firm's non-affiliated insurance general account assets totalled $77bn. At mid-year 2014, they had grown by another $10bn to $87bn.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of 2015.
