AXA Asia to buy Winterthur HK for up to A$393 mln

SYDNEY, Dec 27 (Reuters) Australian life insurer AXA Asia Pacific Ltd. said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy Winterthur Life Hong Kong Ltd. for between A$278 million and A$393 million ($217-307 million).

The acquisition follows an announcement in June by AXA's parent company, AXA SA, that it would acquire the Winterthur Group from Credit Suisse for 13.4 billion Swiss francs ($11 billion).

''Hong Kong is a strategically attractive growth opportunity in a market we know well,'' Andrew Penn, group chief executive of AXA Asia Pacific, said in a statement.

AXA Asia Pacific will pay A$311 million on completion of the deal, with the final cost of the acquisition to be determined by the future performance of the business as measured in 2009.

The acquisition will bring in gross premiums of approximately HK$2.7 billion ($347 million), representing an additional 3 percent of new business market share and a 1.7 percent share of the in-force market.

AXA Asia will also get about 540 staff on top of its existing about 3,100 advisers.

But AXA said it will not acquire Winterthur's Indonesian life insurance operations as they are primarily focussed on group health insurance. An announcement in relation to Winterthur Life Taiwan will be made in due course, it added.

AXA shares have jumped 38.5 percent this year, more than double the returns delivered by the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index <.axjo>.

($1=A$1.28) ($1=1.22 Swiss Franc) ($1=7.780 Hong Kong Dollar) Reuters SBA VP0450