AIA Wins Finance Asia’s Award for Best IPO
AIA Wins Finance Asia’s Award for Best IPO And Deal of the Year
Auckland, 15 December 2010 – The AIA Group has been awarded the Best IPO and Deal of the Year by leading financial news website and magazine Finance Asia.
In an online article, Finance Asia said, “What impressed us by the AIA IPO was its ability to achieve a slightly higher valuation than Prudential’s revised bid just five months earlier and the fact that it successfully turned its stalled growth in recent years into an intriguing – and sought-after – turnaround story . . . [i]n our mind the best IPO of the year also deserves the accolade as the top transaction in the region.”
Mark Tucker, AIA Group Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said all staff had played a critical role in this and deserve full credit for their professionalism, commitment, energy, dedication and patience.
AIA Group is the largest independent listed pan-Asian life insurance group in the world. The entities for which the rating has been raised are American International Assurance Company Limited (AIA Ltd) and its wholly-owned subsidiary American International Assurance Company (Bermuda) Limited (AIAB).
In November, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) has raised its ratings on two of AIA’s operating entities from A+ to AA-, outlook stable, and a month earlier Moody’s Investors Service also affirmed the Aa3 insurance financial strength (IFS) rating on AIAB, and changed its outlook to stable from negative. This reflects AIA Group’s leading positions in a number of life insurance markets across Asia Pacific, as well as its improved operating performance, sound balance sheet, and efficient agency force.
ENDS