====Genworth (GNW) to be acquired by China Oceanwide for $5.43 a share

Genworth Financial Inc., the mortgage guarantor and biggest U.S. seller of long-term care coverage, plans to return to private ownership under a deal announced Sunday to sell itself to China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. for $2.7 billion. Below is a timeline of key events in Genworth’s troubled tenure as a publicly traded company.

• May 24, 2004: General Electric Co. begins divesting Genworth Financial Inc. by selling stock at $19.50 a share in an initial public offering.
• May 24, 2005: Genworth surges 44 percent in its first year of New York trading.
• Dec. 11, 2007: Genworth forecasts that 2008 results will miss analysts’ estimates on mortgage-insurance losses amid a housing slump.
• Nov. 10, 2008: The Richmond, Virginia-based insurer says it is no longer eligible to participate in a federal program that buys short-term debt from financial firms. Downgrades of the company’s credit rating prompted the exclusion.
• Dec. 31, 2008: The stock closes at $2.83 after plunging 89 percent for the year amid losses tied to home loans.
• April 9, 2009: Genworth abandons a request for a Troubled Asset Relief Program bailout. The insurer says it didn’t win approval to buy a Minnesota lender and become a savings and loan holding company, a switch that would have helped it qualify for aid.
• Dec. 15, 2009: Chief Executive Officer Michael Fraizer says that he expects quarterly operating earnings in the U.S. mortgage unit to “turn positive in the mid-2011 time frame.”
• July 28, 2011: Genworth posts a second-quarter loss after setting aside more reserves at the mortgage insurer.
• July 29, 2011: Fraizer says he is weighing a split of the company and the possibility of share buybacks.
• Nov. 4, 2011: The insurer surges 17 percent after announcing plans to sell a stake of as much as 40 percent in its Australian mortgage-guaranty business in 2012.
• March 7, 2012: Prudential Financial Inc. says it plans to stop selling individual long-term care policies amid “challenging economics.” Insurers including Unum Group and MetLife Inc. have previously announced plans to retreat from the business.
• April 18, 2012: Genworth falls 24 percent after postponing the Australian unit IPO until early 2013 amid “elevated” losses.
• May 1, 2012: Fraizer resigns. Chief Financial Officer Martin Klein is named the acting CEO.
• Dec. 11, 2012: Genworth hires Thomas McInerney to be CEO.
• Sept. 25, 2013: McInerney says the Australia IPO will probably be in 2014.
• Dec. 4, 2013: “We have adequate long-term care reserves with the margin for future deterioration,” McInerney tells investors on a conference call.
• Dec. 31, 2013: Genworth closes at $15.53 after doubling for the year as U.S. mortgage insurance has its first annual profit since 2007.
• Jan. 31, 2014: McInerney hires James Boyle as life unit CEO.
• May 15, 2014: Genworth raises A$583 million ($545 million) by selling a stake in its Australian mortgage insurer.
• July 29, 2014: Boyle steps down after claims costs increased for long-term care coverage. McInerney assumes his duties.
• July 30, 2014: After announcing a fresh review of LTC reserves, McInerney says investors got the wrong impression from comments he made in December. The shares fall the most since 2012.
• Nov. 5, 2014: Genworth reports a record quarterly loss of $844 million on costs to increase long-term care reserves.
• Nov. 6, 2014: McInerney apologizes for his July remarks about Wall Street getting the wrong impression. The stock falls 38 percent. S&P cuts Genworth to junk.
• March 2, 2015: Genworth says there’s a material weakness in its accounting for LTC coverage. Shares fall 5.4 percent to $7.33.
• April 29. 2015: McInerney says he’s open to taking Genworth private if a buyer is willing and able to accept the risks.
• Feb. 4, 2016: Genworth suspends sales of traditional life coverage and fixed annuity products after posting a fourth-quarter loss.
• Oct. 23, 2016: China Oceanwide announces deal to buy Genworth for $5.43 a share in cash, up from the most recent closing price of $5.21, and retain senior management.