(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Richard Li's FWD Group Ltd. is boosting its dollar bond sales as it snaps up assets in Southeast Asia in a rapid expansion in the region.
From zero issuance last year, the acquisitive insurer sold $1.66 billion in five offerings this year in its biggest annual sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its parent PCGI Intermediate Holdings Ltd. sold a $250 million five-year dollar bond this week to help fund FWD Group's deals and repay debt.
“The motivation behind FWD's active debt offerings is likely to fund its acquisitions,” said Steven Lam, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.
The dollar bond binge comes as the younger son of Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing makes a big bet on Southeast Asia. FWD Group paid $3 billion for a life insurance business in Thailand in July and signed a $1.8 billion loan backing the acquisition. It was previously said to have considered Aviva Plc's Singapore business, Bloomberg reported earlier.
Earlier this month, FWD Group entered into a distribution agreement with Vietnam's largest lender. As part of the deal, FWD will buy a business called Vietcombank Cardif Life Insurance.
Read more: FWD Enters Bancassurance Partnership With Biggest Vietnam Lender
--With assistance from Adrian Yim.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ina Zhou in Hong Kong at hzhou179@bloomberg.net;Annie Lee in Hong Kong at olee42@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Neha D'silva at ndsilva1@bloomberg.net, Magdalene Fung, Chan Tien Hin
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