AXA APH Talks Up Business Prospects In Effort To Fend Off AMP Bid

Regional insurer AXA Asia Pacific Holdings (APH) says its future is excellent as it seeks to talk up its prospects in an effort to fend off an $11.7 billion joint takeover bid from Australian wealth manager AMP and its French parent AXA SA.

Andrew Penn chief executive of AXA APH says his company was well positioned to benefit from Asian growth.

Without offering an specific guidance for APH’s future performance, Mr. Penn says that earnings from Asian markets now constitute two-thirds of the group’s earnings.

“In the immediate term, our priorities in Asia are to restore and sustain organic growth in Hong Kong, capitalise on the scale that we have achieved in South-east Asia and position our businesses in India and China to reflect the significant opportunities that these markets present, on the one hand, but also the risks that exist for foreign players on the other,” Mr. Penn said.

Under the terms of the takeover bid AMP would acquire all of AXA APH for a consideration of $11.7 billion, and sell the Asian businesses of the group to AXA SA for $7.7 billion leaving AMP with APH’s Australian business at a cost of $4 billion.

APH has categorically rejected the bid saying it significantly undervalues the company.

APH says it would like to more than double the enterprise value of its Asian businesses by 2012. Mr. Penn says the company is experiencing robust growth in China, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, but that growth in Hong Kong had stalled.

India and China, he said, had grown 41 per cent on a combined basis over the previous year.

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