AIA takes out billion dollar loan for ING insurance buy-in

Hong Kong’s top insurance company will finance its planned acquisition of ING Group NV’s insurance operations with bank loans.

American International Assurance or AIA has secured from US$6 billion to US$8 billion in financing commitments from eight banks for its planned bid for ING Group NV's Asian insurance business. The eight banks were identified as ANZ, BNP Paribas, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley \and Standard Chartered Bank.

Reports say they have committed to a one-year bridge loan for the AIA, but their total exposure will depend on AIA's final bid.

AIA’s competitors for ING’s business include Hong Kong's Richard Li; Japan's Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd; Korea Life Insurance Co Ltd and KB Financial Group.

American International Assurance known or AIA has offices in Asia-Pacific region including Taiwan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, Malaysia, Macau, South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam. Holdings include Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company and minority stakes in TATA AIA Life Insurance and TATA AIG General Insurance.