Genworth Financial Inc. said Monday that has agreed to sell a
portion of its interest in Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia
Ltd., a year after the company sold a chunk of the business through
an initial public offering.
The Richmond, Va., mortgage-insurance company said its wholly
owned subsidiaries, Brookfield Life Assurance Co. and Genworth
Financial International Holdings Inc., have agreed to sell 92.3
million shares at 3.08 Australian dollars (US$2.43) a share.
The transaction represents about 14.2% of Genworth Australia's
share capital and is being conducted via a fully underwritten
selldown to equity market investors. The sellers will retain an
approximate 52% stake in Genworth Australia.
The sale "represents an important step toward the execution of
our strategic initiative to increase the financial flexibility and
strength of Genworth" and "advances Genworth's ability to support
compliance...and reduce debt levels," Chief Executive Tom McInerney
said.
Last May, Genworth sold about 30% of its Australian insurance
business through an initial public offering. The IPO raised about
$583 million.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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