Friday, October 25, 2024

Tokio Marine Paused Southeast Asia Operation

Japanese general insurance giant Tokio Marine has paused the sale of its $1bn Southeast Asia life insurance business, partly due to a dispute with a Malaysian partner over an expiring bancassurance agreement. 

The sale has attracted interest from Japanese and Middle Eastern buyers, said the first source. Tokio Marine last month filed a lawsuit against RHB Bank in Malaysia, seeking to enforce its right of first refusal over the 10-year that is due to expire by 31 December 2024
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Tokio Marine also asked RHB for details of the final bid that RHB has agreed to accept from other parties for a new deal, and applied for an interim injunction to prevent RHB from finalizing an agreement with other parties.

Given the pending dispute, buyers were unable to make offers that would meet Tokio Marine's valuation expectations. Some buyers had separately offered to buy only part of Tokio Marine's Southeast Asia life insurance business, but the insurer insisted on selling it as a whole.

The paused sale comes as Tokio Marine has been reviewing its businesses to boost profitability. The Tokyo-headquartered company divested its Tokio Marine Highland's U.S. construction division to Intact Insurance Group in August 2022.

Founded in 1879, Tokio Marine was Japan's first non-life insurance company and it has since expanded into life insurance and now has a presence in 46 countries besides. International businesses contribute 75% of its profits and Japan 25%, its website shows.

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