In Brief: Hartford Enters S.E. Asia With Purchase

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. announced Wednesday that it has completed the purchase of 49% of Peoples Insurance Co. Ltd., Singapore.

Hartford paid Hwa Hong Corp. Ltd., also of Singapore, approximately $20 million in cash for the stake. Hwa Hong previously owned 99.6% of Peoples Insurance. Hartford, the eighth-largest insurance company in the United States, has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherland, and Latin America.

"This new partnership marks the Hartford's first substantial entry into the Southeast Asian market, a region of the world in which the Hartford is committed to investing and growing long term," said John Donahue, president of Hartford's International Financial Services Group subsidiary.

Peoples Insurance had gross premiums of approximately $40 million in 1996, a 14% increase over 1995. Hartford's 1996 revenues totaled $12.5 billion. As of Sept. 30, its assets were $126.8 billion.

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