French insurance group AXA SA (AXA) and Australian insurer AMP Ltd. (AMLTY.PK,AMP.AX) offered Sunday to acquire Australian asset manager AXA Asia Pacific holdings Ltd. or AXA APH (AXA.AX), in a cash and stock deal valued at about A$5.34 per share or A$11 billion. Meanwhile, AXA APH rejected the offer later saying the cash and stock deal is inadequate and is not in the best interests of its minority shareholders.
In a statement, AXA APH Chairman Rick Allert said, "It is the unanimous view of the Independent Board Committee that the proposal significantly undervalues AXA APH. The proposal has been received against the backdrop of recent weakness in global financial markets and before the growth of our Asian operations is fully reflected in our profitability. The non-financial terms of the proposal also imposed excessive uncertainty and risk on AXA APH's minority shareholders".
The implied offer price of A$5.34 per share comprised of A$1.3796 in cash plus 0.6896 AMP share, representing a 31% premium to AXA APH's closing price on the Australian Securities Exchange of A$4.30 on Friday. The total consideration would include 26% of cash and 74% in AMP shares.
Under the Scheme of Arrangement proposal, AMP would acquire all outstanding shares of AXA Asia Pacific holdings for about A$11 billion, including the largest shareholder AXA SA's holdings in it for A$6.0 billion.
AMP would then retain AXA Asia Pacific's Australian and New Zealand operations, and divest the Asian operations to AXA SA for A$7.73 billion. AXA SA and AMP have entered into an exclusive arrangement to that effect. AXA APH would also reimburse the A$0.7 billion of internal loan granted to it by AXA SA and AXA SA would subscribe A$0.5 billion of lower Tier 2 subordinated debt to be issued by AMP.
Pursuant to the proposed deal, AXA SA would have ownership of 100% of the Asian business and AMP would have ownership of 100% of the Australia & New Zealand business. The proposed deal would have seen AXA SA selling its 54% stake in AXA Asia Pacific's Australia & New Zealand business, while acquiring the 46% of AXA Asia Pacific's Asian operations that AXA SA does not own for a net cash payment of 1.1 billion euros.
For AXA SA, the proposed deal would have reinforced its growth profile by doubling its exposure to the high growth Asian Life & Savings market with no integration risk and further optimize the corporate structure of the Group. The proposed transaction would also offer to AXA APH's minority shareholders a significant premium and the opportunity to become shareholders of a larger and stronger AMP Group which will permit them to share directly in the significant synergies that this transaction would create.
However, AXA APH noted that it is a strong business with outstanding prospects, and has an impressive standalone growth profile, with an enviable position in Asia delivering strong growth, and an Australian and New Zealand business that is well positioned to take advantage of the recovery in markets and to respond to the anticipated future regulatory changes.
AXA closed Friday's regular trading session at $25.15, down $0.07 or 0.28% on a volume of 0.57 million shares, lower than the three-month average volume of 0.61 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $7.20 to $29.50.
Meanwhile, AXA.AX is currently trading in Monday's trading session on the Australian Securities Exchange at A$5.67, up A$1.37 or 31.86% on a volume of 30.94 million shares.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.