Pacific Century Group (PCG), a Hong Kong-based private investment firm founded and chaired by billionaire Richard Li, is looking into the divestment of its majority stake in PineBridge Investments, a $157bn asset manager based in New York, according to a report by Reuters.
The report, citing four people with knowledge of the matter and a deal document seen by Reuters, reveals that PCG has enlisted JPMorgan to run the sales process and has already held preliminary discussions with financial institutions. Regardless of PCG’s proposed majority exit, PineBridge’s management, employees and advisors all hold minority interests.
A PCG spokesperson cited in the report confirmed that the firm had no plans to sell its stakes in Huatai-PineBridge Fund Management, a joint venture with a Chinese securities company, which accounts for about one-third of the PCG’s total AUM.
PCG first acquired PineBridge in 2010 for $277m from American International Group (AIG), an American multinational finance and insurance corporation, at a time when it managed $87.3bn of assets.
PineBridge currently has over 700 employees across 25 offices. About 60% of its portfolio exposure is concentrated in the APAC region, where rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions have destabilised regional asset prices, according to the deal document cited in the report by Reuters. The asset manager lost $78m in 2022 compared to a $15m profit in 2021, and in 2023, its net profit after tax exceeded $40m.
PCG’s other ventures include FWD, its insurance business, HKT, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Hong Kong, and Pacific Century Premium Developments, its property and infrastructure business.
