Fosun's asset sale plans put pressure on Ageas shares

Shares of Belgian insurance holding company Ageas fell over 4% as its largest shareholder Fosun announced sweeping asset sale plans on Tuesday morning. Fosun, one of China's largest non-state conglomerates, plans to sell $11 billion of assets to strengthen its balance sheet and investor confidence, reports Bloomberg. 

With a 10 per cent stake, Fosun is the largest shareholder of Belgian insurance holding company Ageas. Fosun announced it wants to sell several non-strategic investments to improve its liquidity position. The news caused Ageas's share price to plunge 4 per cent on Tuesday. 

Ageas is the largest player in the Belgian insurance market and operates in several other European and Asian countries. How Ageas performs on the stock market is also important to Belgium's federal government, which holds a 6.3 per cent stake in the insurer through its Federal Holding and Investment Company (FPIM). 

(KOR)

^{© WANG Zhao / AFP}