Genworth and Oceanwide Continue to Work Toward Closing Transaction; Genworth Announces Date of 2020 Annual Stockholders Meeting

RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Genworth Financial, Inc. GNW today announced that while it continues to work with China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (Oceanwide) toward closing the merger transaction with Oceanwide by September 30, 2020, Genworth has scheduled its 2020 Annual Meeting in order to comply with the New York Stock Exchange listing standards, which require each listed issuer to hold an annual meeting of stockholders during each calendar year, and to provide requisite advance notice of the meeting to its stockholders.

Genworth and Oceanwide previously announced that Oceanwide's funding plan for the proposed transaction was progressing well, and that the parties are working to close the transaction by September 30, 2020. The transaction had previously received all U.S. regulatory approvals needed to close the transaction, subject to confirmation from the Delaware Department of Insurance that the acquisition of Genworth's Delaware-domiciled insurer may proceed under the existing approval, which Oceanwide expects to seek upon finalization of its financing. For an update on the current status of the regulatory approvals, please see Genworth's press release dated August 31, 2020 which can be found under the "Investors" section of genworth.com.

In the event the proposed merger is not completed by December 10, 2020, the 2020 Annual Meeting will be held as a virtual meeting on Thursday, December 10, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.  Holders of record of Genworth's Class A common stock on October 16, 2020, will be eligible to vote at the 2020 Annual Meeting.  In the event the proposed merger is completed by December 10, 2020, the 2020 Annual Meeting will not be held.

As disclosed in Genworth's proxy statement for its 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the deadline for the receipt of stockholder proposals submitted under Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for inclusion in the Company's proxy materials for the 2020 Annual Meeting was July 4, 2020. 

Genworth's bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for director nominations and other business proposals that stockholders intend to be presented at the 2020 Annual Meeting outside of Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act.  For these nominations or other business proposals to be properly brought before the meeting by a stockholder, the stockholder must deliver written notice to Genworth no later than the close of business on September 28, 2020.  Such nominations and other business proposals must comply with all requirements set forth in the company's bylaws.

All notices of intention to present director nominations or other business proposals at the 2020 Annual Meeting, whether or not intended to be included in the proxy materials, should be addressed to: Corporate Secretary, Genworth Financial, Inc., 6620 West Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23230.

About Genworth Financial

Genworth Financial, Inc. GNW is a Fortune 500 insurance holding company committed to helping families achieve the dream of homeownership and address the financial challenges of aging through its leadership positions in mortgage insurance and long term care insurance. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Genworth traces its roots back to 1871 and became a public company in 2004. For more information, visit genworth.com. 

From time to time, Genworth releases important information via postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information is found under the "Investors" section of genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth's publicly traded subsidiaries, Genworth MI Canada Inc. and Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Limited, separately release financial and other information about their operations. This information can be found at http://genworth.ca and http://www.genworth.com.au.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will" or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the closing of the transaction with Oceanwide, Oceanwide's funding plans and transactions Genworth is pursuing to address its near-term liabilities and financial obligations, which may include additional debt financing and/or transactions to sell a percentage of its ownership interests in its mortgage insurance businesses. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and factors that may cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: (i) the risk that Oceanwide will be unable to raise funding and that the transaction with Oceanwide may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect Genworth's business and the price of Genworth's common stock, and the risk that Genworth will be unable to address its near-term liabilities and financial obligations, including the risks that it will be unable to raise additional debt financing and/or sell a percentage of its ownership interest in its U.S. mortgage insurance business to repay the promissory note to AXA S.A. or refinance its debt maturing in 2021 or beyond; (ii) the parties' inability to obtain regulatory approvals, clearances or extensions, or the possibility that such regulatory approvals or clearances may further delay the transaction with Oceanwide or will not be received prior to September 30, 2020 (and either or both of the parties may not be willing to further waive their end date termination rights beyond September 30, 2020) or that materially burdensome or adverse regulatory conditions may be imposed or undesirable measures may be required in connection with any such regulatory approvals, clearances or extensions (including those conditions or measures that either or both of the parties may be unwilling to accept or undertake, as applicable) or that with continuing delays, circumstances may arise that make one or both parties unwilling to proceed with the transaction with Oceanwide or unable to comply with the conditions to existing regulatory approvals or one or both of the parties may be unwilling to accept any new condition under a regulatory approval; (iii) the risk that the parties will not be able to obtain other regulatory approvals, approvals, clearances or extensions, including in connection with a potential alternative funding structure or the current geo-political environment, or that one or more regulators may rescind or fail to extend existing approvals, or that the revocation by one regulator of approvals will lead to the revocation of approvals by other regulators; (iv) the parties' inability to obtain any necessary regulatory approvals, clearances or extensions for the post-closing capital plan, and/or the risk that a condition to the closing of the transaction with Oceanwide may not be satisfied or that a condition to closing that is currently satisfied may not remain satisfied due to the delay in closing the transaction with Oceanwide or that the parties are unable to agree upon a closing date following receipt of all regulatory approvals and clearances; (v) potential legal proceedings that may be instituted against Genworth related to the transactions with Oceanwide; (vi) the risk that the proposed transaction disrupts Genworth's current plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the transaction; (vii) potential adverse reactions or changes to Genworth's business relationships with clients, employees, suppliers or other parties or other business uncertainties resulting from the announcement of the transaction or during the pendency of the transaction, including but not limited to such changes that could affect Genworth's financial performance; (viii) certain restrictions during the pendency of the transaction that may impact Genworth's ability to pursue certain business opportunities or strategic transactions; (ix) continued availability of capital and financing to Genworth before the consummation of the transaction; (x) further rating agency actions and downgrades in Genworth's financial strength ratings; (xi) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (xii) Genworth's ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the transaction; (xiii) the amount of the costs, fees, expenses and other charges related to the transaction; (xiv) the risks related to diverting management's attention from Genworth's ongoing business operations; (xv) the impact of changes in interest rates and political instability; and (xvi) other risks and uncertainties described in the Definitive Proxy Statement, filed with the SEC on January 25, 2017, and Genworth's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on February 27, 2020. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third parties and similar risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on Genworth's consolidated financial condition, results of operations, credit rating or liquidity. Accordingly, we caution you against relying on any forward-looking statements. Further, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Genworth's views as of any subsequent date, and Genworth does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc.