On the evening of November 16, 2016, Wu Xiaohui, Chairman and CEO of Anbang Insurance Group, held a private meeting with Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, at the Waldorf Astoria New York, which sparked heated media discussion. Anbang's investment trajectory in its aggressive overseas expansion in recent years has drawn significant attention.
In recent years, Anbang Insurance Group has accelerated its pace of overseas investment.
In October 2014, Anbang Insurance Group acquired the Hilton-owned Waldorf Astoria New York for $1.95 billion.
That same month, Anbang Insurance Group announced the acquisition of the Belgian insurance company FIDEA for 220 million euros, marking the first instance of a domestic insurance company acquiring 100% equity in a European insurance firm.
On December 16, 2014, Anbang Insurance Group made its third major investment of the year, acquiring the century-old Belgian bank Delta Lloyd Bank for 219 million euros.
In 2015, Anbang made two consecutive moves in the overseas insurance industry. In February, Tongyang Life Insurance and Anbang Insurance signed a share sale agreement, with Anbang deciding to acquire a 63% stake in Tongyang Life Insurance for 1.1319 trillion South Korean won (approximately 6.17 billion RMB). Following the acquisition, in the first half of 2016, South Korea's Tongyang Life Insurance achieved a premium income of 22.48 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of over 90%.
After signing the merger and acquisition agreement with South Korea's Tongyang Life Insurance, Anbang acquired the century-old Dutch insurance company VIVAT for 150 million euros, injected no more than 1 billion euros into the company, and repaid loans worth 552 million euros.
In November 2015, Anbang again high-profilely announced the acquisition of the American Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company at a price of $26.8 per share. The total acquisition amount was approximately $1.59 billion, or about 10.1 billion RMB.
In November 2016, Anbang Insurance Group, through its previously acquired South Korean Tongyang Life Insurance, purchased a 4% stake in Woori Bank, the only state-owned bank in South Korea.
However, Anbang Insurance Group's overseas investment path has not been entirely smooth.
Following the collapse of its plan to acquire Starwood in March 2016, in May, due to resistance from U.S. regulators, Anbang Insurance Group announced the withdrawal of its 2015 application to acquire the American Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company.