SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s government has decided it would not be in the public interest for German insurer Allianz to buy a majority stake in Singapore’s Income Insurance for about $1.6 billion, Channel News Asia reported on Monday, citing a minister.
“The government has assessed the proposed transaction and has decided that it would not be in the public interest for the transaction, in its current form, to proceed,” Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong was cited as telling parliament on Monday.
Allianz had proposed the deal in July as part of its strategy to strengthen its foothold in Asia, but faced concerns in the city state with stakeholders worried the German insurer would abandon NTUC Income’s social mission to provide affordable insurance for low-income workers.
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Kim Coghill)