Ipac chief executive Rainbow Pan declined to confirm that Ipac was on the block, saying it was company policy not to comment on “speculation [and] rumours”. Axa Group also did not respond to requests for comment.
However, market sources said that Axa is understood to be in the final stages of a sale agreement with an undisclosed Australian company, and to have obtained the permission to go ahead with the deal from Hong Kong’s regulator.
It has also sought permission for the deal from the regulators in Singapore where Ipac also has offices, the sources said. Whether the deal would also include Ipac’s Taiwan operation was not known.
Not profitable
According to those familiar with Ipac, which specialises in providing high-end, fee-based advice to wealthy expatriates as well as to a growing number of local residents in all its jurisdictions, the firm has never produced a profit for Axa since it was acquired in 2002 for A$250m ($250m). At that point, it was just a domestic Australian financial advisory business, with a solid reputation and a TV investment show presenter, Paul Clitheroe, on its board.
With Axa’s resources behind it, the company immediately began to expand into Asia. Then, in November 2010, Axa agreed an A$14bn acquisition/divestiture deal with AMP, one of Australia’s largest asset managers, whereby AMP would end up with all of Axa’s Australian and New Zealand businesses, including Ipac Australia. In return Axa would get all of the merged entities Asian operations as well as cash. The deal completed on 1 April, 2011.
Wake of Bluefin, Denplan sales
News of Axa’s intentions to shed the remainder of Ipac that it owns follows UK press reports, in November, that it is also looking to sell most of its London-based Bluefin advisory business. Until August, one of Ipac’s founders, Suvan de Soysa, had been Bluefin’s managing director.
On 20 Dec Axa said it had concluded a “debt-free, cash-free” £115m sale of its Denplan insurance operation to Simplyhealth Group.
However, Axa continues to keep a foothold in Hong Kong’s advisory market with Integrity Financial AdviceNetwork Co., which it established there in 2010. According to its website (www.integrityhk.com) and interviews with other advisers in the market, Integrity is primarily a platform business aimed at financial services professionals who cater mainly for local, rather than expatriate, clients.
