Dai-ichi Bought Westpac Insurance

Life Holdings is acquiring an insurance arm of Australia's financial services company Westpac Group for about 900 million Australian dollars ($664.8 million). The Japanese insurer will acquire Australia's sixth biggest insurance company through its Australian subsidiary TAL. The deal is expected to be complete as early as the end of 2022.

Westpac, one of the four major Australian banks, has a customer base of more than 14 million and 5 million online users. Insurance premiums and other revenues amount to AU$1.1 billion.

Dai-ichi hopes to benefit from Australia's growing market, where the population is increasing, unlike in Japan. The acquisition is expected to bring in several billion yen per year in profit to the Dai-ichi Life group. TAL is increasing its share in insurance products that cover death and other unlikely events. After the deal, the Dai-ichi unit, already the largest life insurer in Australia, will control one-third of the market.

Dai-ichi started operating in Vietnam in 2007, and has expanded across the rest of the Asia Pacific region. The company invested in TAL in 2008, and made it a full subsidiary in 2011. Overseas business accounts for about 20% of Dai-ichi's profit, and the company hopes to increase the overseas ratio.

Japanese insurance companies have been bullish in Australia. Nippon Life Insurance acquired MLC, a former life insurance division of National Australia Bank, for about 180 billion yen ($1.6 billion) in 2016. MS & AD Insurance Group Holdings has invested in Australian life insurance company Challenger.