Genworth to sell Canada unit stake to Brookfield in $1.81 billion deal

(Reuters) - Genworth Financial Inc <GNW.N> agreed on Tuesday to sell its 57% stake in its Canadian mortgage insurance unit for about C$2.4 billion ($1.81 billion), as the U.S. insurer looks to close its long-delayed sale to China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co Ltd.

Genworth said it would sell the stake in Genworth MI Canada Inc <MIC.TO> to investment manager Brookfield Business Partners LP <BBU_u.TO> for C$48.86 per share, a 4.1% discount to the Canadian unit's close on Monday.

The U.S. insurer had already announced that it would explore a sale for Genworth MI Canada as Canadian regulators are yet to approve the deal with Oceanwide [OWREAC.UL].

Genworth's shares were up about 18% at $4.55 before the bell.

Oceanwide and Genworth, which signed the deal in October 2016, also entered into the 12th waiver and agreed to extend their merger deadline to not later than Dec. 31.

The Oceanwide deal will still require clearance in China for currency conversion, the company said.

Brookfield has also agreed to provide Genworth with up to $850 million in bridge financing if regulatory approvals for the deal are not received by Oct. 31.

(Reporting by Abhishek Manikandan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)