CHINA LIFE PUTS $300M INTO VISA IPO

China’s largest insurer China Life has invested $300 million in the US initial public offering (IPO) of multinational card company Visa. The investment in the New York Stock Exchange listing is China Life’s largest involvement in a US IPO thus far and is behind only Ping An’s recent purchase of a stake in Belgo-Dutch financial group Fortis as the largest investment made by a Chinese insurer in an overseas company. Qu Jiahao, assistant general manager of China Life, told Bloomberg that the deal represented “a financial investment for now” rather than the start of any strategic link-ups with Visa, although he did add that China Life is considering further investments in overseas IPOs.