RSA Insurance Group plc announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its insurance business in Singapore and Hong Kong to Allied World Assurance Co Ltd for 130 million pounds ($236.1 million) in cash.

The deal is expected to result in a gain of about 110 million pounds and will add about 95 million pounds to the company's tangible net assets, RSA Insurance told Reuters.

The transaction to sell RSA Singapore and RSA Hong Kong is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to complete during the first half of 2015.

The move comes just as Warren Buffett and Maurice Greenberg are looking to expand in the Asian general insurance market, with Greenberg already taking over China’s Dazhong Insurance last month. (See Insurance magnates expanding in Asia for more).

RSA Singapore and RSA Hong Kong underwrite a mix of commercial speciality and retail business.

Canada’s Manulife has found fertile ground in Japan and Indonesia, with sales up more than 50 per cent for the first quarter of 2014 – offsetting an overall sales drop of 15.3 per cent that reflected lower group benefits sales here in Canada.

Allied World Assurance Co Holdings Ltd, through its subsidiaries, provides property, casualty and speciality insurance and reinsurance services.