Anbang Insurance Group Co., the Chinese buyer of the Waldorf Astoria, is planning an initial public offering that could raise $2 billion.
The insurer is planing to go public next year with a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Bloomberg News reported. The insurer, which boasts $114 billion in assets, has more than 3,000 locations across China and more than 20 million customers.
The Beijing-based company bought the iconic New York hotel for $1.9 billion. The transaction is currently under investigation, however.
Last month, Anbang purchased Belgian insurer Fidea NV and is reportedly looking to make more acquisitions.
“It appears that Anbang has ambitions for a conglomerate to emulate the Berkshire Hathaway model,” Linda Sun-Mattison, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg. “This would entail continued and probably large funding needs.” [Bloomberg News] — Claire Moses