Principal Financial Group and CIMB Group Holdings Berhad today announced that they have signed agreements for Principal to gain additional ownership of the CIMB-Principal Asset Management Group and CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management, pending regulatory approval. Once complete, Principal will increase its ownership stake to 60 percent, with CIMB retaining 40 percent ownership in the entities. The joint ventures will continue to be co-managed by both companies. Principal will pay CIMB up to approximately $117 million for the additional ownership stake. “Southeast Asia is a growing and important region for Principal as we focus on bringing long-term saving and investing products to the market,” said Pedro Borda, president of Southeast Asia and India for Principal. “By increasing our ownership stake in the CIMB-Principal joint ventures, we will be better able to bring our global asset management expertise and experience to bear while still leveraging the multichannel distribution power of CIMB to continue to serve our customers.” This transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018.