(Bloomberg) -- Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam JSC is considering reviving the sale of its stake in a life insurance joint venture with Metlife Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The lender is in talks with potential advisers on the planned divestment which includes an insurance partnership, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. A stake sale could value BIDV Metlife Life Insurance LLC including the so-called bancassurance pact at $300 million to $400 million, the people said.
The Vietnamese lender had explored selling its stake in the JV in 2019, Bloomberg News reported at the time. In a bancassurance partnership, an insurer such as Metlife could sell its products in a bank’s branches and other retail channels for a set period.
Deliberations are ongoing and there is no guarantee BIDV will proceed with the planned sale, said the people. A representative for BIDV didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Metlife set up the joint venture, BIDV MetLife, along with BIDV and Bank for Investment, Development of Vietnam Insurance Corp., also known as BIC, in 2013. BIDV owns about 35%, according to the bank’s 2021 annual report.
BIDV Metlife’s total direct premium revenue reached 1,573 billion dong ($67 million) in 2021, a 16% increase from the year before, the report shows. Its profit before tax was 36 billion dong in 2021.
--With assistance from Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
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