AXA and Bao Minh Insurance Enter Into a Strategic Partnership in the Vietnamese Insurance Market
September 12 2007 - 3:45AM
PR Newswire (US)
PARIS, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AXA and Bao Minh
Insurance Corporation ("Bao Minh") announced today that they have
reached an agreement to establish a strategic partnership in the
Vietnamese insurance market. As part of this agreement, AXA will
acquire a 16.6% stake of the share capital of Bao Minh for a total
amount of VND1,194 billion (Euro 54 million). Bao Minh is the 2nd
largest player in the Vietnamese non-life insurance market with a
21% market share. It is well positioned in all business lines and
has a strong and diversified distribution network. As part of the
partnership, and in order to fully benefit from the growth
prospects of the Vietnamese market, Bao Minh will have access to
the technical expertise of AXA's global and regional platforms.
Completion of this agreement is subject to local regulatory
approvals and is expected to take place before the end of
September. About Bao Minh Bao Minh Insurance Corporation is a
leading Vietnamese non-life insurer offering services in the motor,
property & engineering, maritime, aviation, and personal
segments. Bao Minh earned VND1,468.2 billion (Euro 65.7 million) in
gross written premium and VND100.7 billion (Euro 4.5 million) in
profit after tax in 2006. Bao Minh's ordinary shares have been
traded on the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre since November 2006.
Equitised by Vietnam's Ministry of Finance in 2004, Bao Minh is the
first former state owned enterprise insurer to successfully
introduce a strategic foreign investor in Vietnam. About AXA AXA
Group is a worldwide leader in Financial Protection. AXA's
operations are diverse geographically, with major operations in
Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific area. For full year
2006, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 79 billion and IFRS adjusted
earnings amounted to Euro 5,140 million. The AXA ordinary share is
listed and traded under the symbol AXA on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The AXA American Depository Share is also listed on the NYSE under
the ticker symbol AXA. This press release is available on the AXA
Group web site: http://www.axa.com/ and on the Bao Minh Insurance
Corporation web site: http://www.baominh.com.vn/ IMPORTANT LEGAL
INFORMATION Certain statements contained herein are forward-looking
statements including, but not limited to, statements that are
predications of or indicate future events, trends, plans or
objectives. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements
because, by their nature, they are subject to known and unknown
risks and uncertainties. Please refer to AXA's Annual Report on
Form 20-F and AXA's Document de Reference for the year ended
December 31, 2006, for a description of certain important factors,
risks and uncertainties that may affect AXA's business. In
particular, please refer to the section "Special Note Regarding
Forward- Looking Statements" in AXA's Annual Report on Form 20-F.
AXA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of
these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new
information, future events or circumstances or otherwise.
DATASOURCE: AXA Group CONTACT: Investor Relations, Etienne
Bouas-Laurent, +33-1-40-75-46-85, Paul-Antoine Cristofari,
+33-1-40-75-73-60, Emmanuel Touzeau, +33-1-40-75-49-05, or George
Guerrero, +1-212-314-28-93, or Media Relations, Christophe Dufraux,
+33-1-40-75-46-74, Clara Rodrigo, +33-1-40-75-47-22, Laurent
Secheret, +33-1-40-75-48-17, Armelle Vercken, +33-1-40-75-46-42, or
Mary Taylor, +1-212-314-58-45, all of AXA; or Nguyen The Nang,
Investor Relations of Bao Minh, +84-904-237-971 Web site:
http://www.axa.com/ http://www.baominh.com.vn/
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