JD.com Gets Regulator’s Approval for Stake in Insurance Venture

E-commerce giant JD.com Inc. has gained regulatory approval to take a 30% stake in the China arm of Germany-based insurer Allianz SE, joining other tech behemoths, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., that are muscling into China’s burgeoning financial-services sector.

The 483 million yuan ($71.3 million) deal has been approved by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), according to a statement on its website on Tuesday.

After the capital injection, JD.com will become the second-largest shareholder in Allianz China, although its stake will be slightly smaller than that given in an April announcement that revealed plans to invest 537 million yuan for a 33% holding.

JD.com’s transaction is part of a bigger deal that will see Allianz China’s registered capital double to 1.61 billion yuan from 805 million, with China Sinda Intellectual Property Ltd., Shenzhen Huijing Tongda Business Consulting Co. Ltd., and Shanghai Snow Light Capital taking stakes of 12.4%, 4.27%, and 3.33% respectively, according to the CBIRC notice. Allianz will retain a 50% share in the venture.

Established in 2003 in Guangzhou, Allianz China is the German insurance group’s wholly owned property and casualty insurance subsidiary, with services including automobile, property, liability and domestic credit insurance, as well as short-term health insurance and accident insurance for individual and corporate clients, according to the company’s website.

Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services Group bought a controlling 51% stake in Taiwan’s Cathay Century Insurance Co. in 2016, and Tencent was granted permission to sell insurance products over its popular messenger app WeChat last year.

JD.com spun off its finance arm into a separate company in 2017. The spinoff is part of efforts by the Nasdaq-listed firm to make JD Finance fully owned by Chinese shareholders. This will make it easier to obtain certain financial service licenses in China such as for securities trading. Earlier in July, JD Finance announced it planned to raise about 13 billion yuan in its next round of financing.

Contact reporter Ke Baili (bailike@caixin.com)