Ageas has reached an agreement to divest its 30.95% holding in the joint venture Maybank Ageas to its partner Malayan Banking Bhd for a consideration of €1.1 billion ($1.15 billion), the insurer said on Monday. The transaction brings to a close a partnership that began 25 years ago.
The Belgian insurer said the sale will generate an estimated net capital gain of about €450 million after tax and implies a total enterprise value for Maybank Ageas of €3.5 billion.
Ageas first entered the Malaysian market in 2001 through the tie-up with Maybank and later extended the alliance into Singapore in 2014. The operations run under the Etiqa brand and occupy leading positions across Malaysia’s life and non-life insurance markets, including being the country’s leading non-life takaful insurer.
In the year 2025, Maybank Ageas produced a net operating result of €64 million and transferred €21 million to Ageas, the company stated. Ageas said the transaction is expected to close later in 2026, subject to the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals.
From a capital perspective, Ageas projects the disposal will lift its Solvency II ratio by 25 percentage points, a move the company said will strengthen its balance-sheet position. Chief Executive Hans De Cuyper described the sale as an opportunity to crystallize value generated during the long-standing partnership with Maybank, while reiterating that Asia remains one of the group’s four core business segments.
The agreement marks a material reconfiguration of Ageas’s footprint in the region by transferring full ownership of the Malaysian joint venture to Maybank. The company provided the financial details of the deal and the expected benefit to capital metrics, while noting the timeline depends on regulatory clearances required for completion.
As reported, the key numerical elements of the transaction are unchanged: the stake disposed is 30.95%; the headline price paid by Malayan Banking Bhd is €1.1 billion; the after-tax estimated capital gain to Ageas is around €450 million; the valorization of the venture is €3.5 billion; the venture’s 2025 net operating result was €64 million, with a remittance to Ageas of €21 million; and the closing is anticipated later in 2026 pending regulatory approvals. The company expects the transaction to increase its Solvency II ratio by 25 percentage points.