Ping An Insurance Group sold about 0.4 per cent of the shares it holds in HSBC Holdings, days after it voted against the reappointment of departing chief executive officer Noel Quinn as a director.
Ping An’s asset management arm sold 5.65 million shares of HSBC this week, according to a filing. The transaction, which is valued at US$50.1 million, brought the insurer’s stake in HSBC from 8.01 per cent to 7.98 per cent.
Even after the sale, Ping An remains one of HSBC’s largest shareholders with a stake valued at US$13.2 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“HSBC is our long term financial investment,” Ping An said in a statement. “The bank has maintained unique competitive advantage in Asia. We are confident of its long-term development.”
Ping An in recent years has been pushing HSBC to embark on a series of reforms, including spinning off its Asian arm. That effort was roundly defeated at a shareholder meeting last year.
The insurer lodged a protest vote against Quinn’s leadership at the shareholder meeting of Europe’s largest bank last week, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News. The vote came days after he surprised the business world with the announcement of his retirement from the lender.
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That vote suggested the Chinese insurer is still unhappy about HSBC’s strategic direction. The share sale this week is also Ping An’s first time disclosing that it’s offloaded the stock since the company began its campaign against the bank.
HSBC said last week that Quinn and the board were entirely unaware of Ping An’s intention to vote against his director role until after his retirement had been announced. BLOOMBERG
