China Eastern to sell stake in insurance JV

China Eastern Air Holding Co is selling its stake in Cathay Life Insurance Co Ltd (Shanghai), after the insurance joint venture suffered two years of losses, sources said.

The parent company of Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd has a 50 percent stake in Cathay Life Insurance (Shanghai) and is looking for a sale price of 850 million yuan ($128.9 million), according to a file posted on the official website of Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange on Monday.

Cathay Life Insurance (Shanghai) is a 50-50 joint venture between Taiwan's Cathay Life Insurance Co, a wholly-owned unit of Cathay Financial Holding Co, and China Eastern Air Holding Co.

The venture reported a loss of 161.6 million yuan in 2011, and it continued to be in red last year with a negative profit of 121.7 million yuan.