Li plans more acquisitions after ING deal Richard Li's Pacific Century Group will use its new insurance businesses in Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand as a base for further acquisitions to create a pan-Asia challenger to the more established life and savings companies in the region. Mr Li on Friday agreed a $2.14bn deal for ING's units in the three jurisdictions, giving PCG more than half a million customers and almost 6,000 sales agents, as the Dutch group continues a break-up forced by European regulators. Industry experts reckon the Hong Kong business is large enough to be run as a standalone entity. But there are also other smaller insurance assets up for potential sale in Hong Kong and in the region that would make good bolt-on acquisitions for a newly independent business, according to bankers. "Coupling our financial services expertise and strong Asian network, with the platform potential of the Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand operations, we are confident we can . . . develop a strong regional insurance champion to reach many more [customers]," said Mr Li, who is chairman and majority owner of PCG. The price PCG is paying for the units amounts to just less than two times their forecast year-end book value. Mr Li had been interested in ING's Malaysian business as well, but was outbid by AIA , which agreed last week to pay 2.2 times book value. Mr Li, the majority owner of Hong Kong media and telecoms group PCCW, is re-entering an industry he left with the 2007 sale of Pacific Century Life, a Hong Kong-based life assurance company that he sold to Belgo-Dutch group Fortis. The life insurance industry in Asia is being driven by a rapidly emerging middle class and a growing need for health and assurance products in countries that mostly do not have any significant state welfare support. PCG said it would continue to build on the ING platform "through organic and inorganic efforts across southeast Asia, including markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia." Mr Li has fought off competition from a number of bidders for the business, many of which appeared more likely buyers in the early stages. The younger tycoon has three main business interests - telecoms, property and financial services. Mr Li in 2010 bought PineBridge Investments, a US-based asset management business, from AIG following the insurance company's collapse during the global financial crisis. HSBC advised Mr Li on the deal while Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan advised ING.