Pacific Century Group

Background

Richard Li first became interested in the TMT space in 1989 when he foresaw the opportunity for the creative development of information and home entertainment services in Asia and set-up STAR TV, Asia's first satellite-delivered cable-TV service. By 1993 STAR TV had a viewer base of 45 million. In 1993, Richard Li sold STAR TV to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 2 tranches for around US$1.0 billion, achieving a return of 9x over 3 years, and went on to form PCG.

Acquisitions

First Acquisition

PCG has a strong track record of holding and developing assets over the long term, and has a network of well-established connections in Asia. Its first foray into financial services came from the acquisition of Pacific Century Insurance ("PCI") in 1994. PCI was listed on the stock exchange of Hong Kong in 1999. By 2007, PCI was the sixth largest life insurer in Hong Kong, including PCI Investment Management Between 2000 and 2007 this company's assets increased seven-fold and the firm received numerous awards from Standard & Poor's, as well as Lipper. Having grown the business in Hong Kong into a public company with a strong agency force and sound financial performance, there were limited opportunities for expansion in Asia at that time. In 2007, PCI was sold to Fortis to better position the business for the next phase of growth as part of a broader international platform.

Subsequent Acquisitions

PCG acquired AIG's asset management operations, AIG Investments, in 2010, and renamed it PineBridge Investments after restructuring. In December 2024, it was sold to Metlife.

In February 2013, PCG announced the acquisition of the Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand insurance businesses from ING Groep N.V. (ING). PCG has said that these acquisitions are the first step in its plan to develop a world class pan-Asian insurance business to capitalise on the long-term potential of the insurance sector. The total cash consideration of the acquisition was US$2.14 billion (EUR 1.64 billion).

In September 2020, FWD Group, the insurance arm of Pacific Century Group entered into a strategic partnership with IPP Financial Advisers to develop life insurance products.

Brands

Current Subsidiaries and Investments

• Bolttech
• FWD Group
• PCCW
  • Hong Kong Telecom
  • Mox Bank (15% owned by PCCW; 10% owned by HKT)
  • Pacific Century Premium Developments
  • PCCW Media
    • HK Television Entertainment
      • ViuTV
      • ViuTVsix
  • PCCW Solutions

Former Subsidiaries and Investments

• Pacific Century Insurance – sold in 2007 (renamed FTLife Insurance Company)

References

References

1. Bloomberg. (29 March 2010). "PineBridge Investments' Sale to Pacific Century Group Complete". Bloomberg.
2. (29 March 2010). "White & Case Advises Pacific Century Group on Closing of AIG Investment Advisory and Asset Management Purchase". White & Case.
3. Telecom Asia. (November 2007). "News Map". Telecom Asia.
4. Catherine Ong. (24 July 1994). "Richard Li : Asserting his place in life". Straits Times.
5. Philip Shenon. (23 August 1993). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Star TV Extends Murdoch's Reach". New York Times.
6. Juliana Liu. (20 July 2011). "Rupert Murdoch's Chinese dreams never became a reality". BBC.
7. Christopher W. Runckel. (December 1999). "Interview with Richard Li of Hong Kong". Runckel & Associates.
8. Fortis. (1 March 2007). "Fortis to acquire a majority stake in Pacific Century Insurance ("PCI")". Fortis.
9. PCI. (8 November 2004). "Pacific Century Insurance performs well in Q3". PCI.
10. PR/Newswire. (27 October 1999). "S&P Assigns 'Bpi' Rating to Pacifc Century Insurance". PR Newswire.
11. ING. (25 March 2013). "ING Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited". ING.
12. (28 February 2007). "Fortis aims to buy Pacific Century Insurance -source". Reuters.
13. (2010). "PineBridge Investments' Sale to Pacific Century Group Complete". [[Bloomberg L.P..
14. (2024-12-24). "MetLife to buy Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li’s PineBridge in asset management push".
15. (28 February 2013). "ING Groep NV Completes Sale of Insurance Units in Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand". Reuters.
16. (2020-09-08). "FWD Acquires Stake in Financial Planning Company".