Why deal between Allianz and Income was scuppered

MCCY not convinced Income can continue fulfilling its social mission after the deal

- Kang Wan Chern Deputy Business Editor

An offer to take a majority stake in Singapore's Income Insurance by German insurer Allianz has been called off, after a government assessment concluded that a deal in its current form would not be in the public's interest.

That decision was announced in Parliament on Oct 14 by Mr Edwin Tong, who is Minister for Culture,

Community and Youth, and also Second Minister for Law.

Allianz had made an offer on July 17 to acquire a 51 per cent stake in Income for $40.58 a share, valuing the deal at $2.2 billion. The terms of the offer were being reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and pending its approval.

Had the deal been approved, it would have seen NTUC Enterprise's (NE) current 72.8 per cent controlling stake in Income potentially whittled down to 49 per cent.

WHY WAS THE DEAL CALLED OFF?

After reviewing the information provided by MAS in August, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) concluded that there was sufficient basis for it to intervene to protect the public's interest, despite financial prudential requirements having been satisfied.

Mr Tong shared three reasons for MCCY's decision.

First, the information provided by MAS revealed that Income was planning to return around $1.85 billion in cash to its shareholders within the first three years of completing the transaction, while still continuing with its social mission of providing affordable insurance to the public.