MAA ... Jan10

It has received the greenlight from Bank Negara Malaysia on its proposal to sell its general insurance business, Malaysian Assurance Alliance Bhd (MAA Assurance), to AmG Insurance Bhd.

It received a letter dated Jan 5 from the central bank giving it the approval to sell the unit to AmG Insurance, a 51 per cent-owned unit of AMMB Holdings Bhd.

AMMB in a separate note said the acquisition price could come up to RM180 million.

The final pricing will depend on price adjustments and due diligence on MAA Assurance''s general insurance business.

In November 2009, MAAH had revised the disposal price of MAA Assurance to AmG Insurance to RM180 million from an earlier price of RM254.8 million. The change came as AMMB Holdings had said that it would not pursue the acquisition of a 4.9 per cent stake in MAA Takaful, which had came with the original offer on MAA Assurance.