Japan’s Dai-Ichi Life Insurance to buy US peer Protective Life for $5.7 bn
04 Jun 2014
Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Co, Japan's second-largest life insurer, yesterday struck a deal to buy US insurer Protective Life for $5.7 billion (¥582.2 billion).
The proposed deal is the biggest overseas acquisition by a Japanese life insurer, and the second-biggest takeover of a US company by a Japanese firm in the past 12 months, according to Bloomberg data.
Under the terms of the deal, Dai-ichi will pay $70 per share in cash, a 34-per cent premium over Protective's closing stock price of $52.30 on 30 May.
Dai-ichi Life said that it will sell up to ¥250 billion ($2.4 billion) of shares to fund part of the acquisition.
Founded in 1907 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Protective Life is a medium-sized life insurer operating in the individual life and annuities business nationwide with a market share ranking of 36th in the US as measured by group premium income.
With a market cap of $4.6 billion, the Birmingham, Alabama-based insurer reported net income of $393 million in 20134 and has total assets of $68.7 billion.
The acquisition will make Dai-ichi Life the 13th largest global insurer, with total assets of $424 billion and boost its premium income to about ¥4.65 trillion.
Tokyo-based Dai-ichi Life is the second-largest life insurer in Japan after Nippon Life Insurance.
Founded in 1902, Dai-Ichi is the oldest mutual insurance company in Japan and has total assets of ¥33,474 billion .
Its earlier overseas acquisitions include Sydney-based Tower Australia Group and a stake in Janus Capital Group Inc.
In India it has as joint venture called Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd with Bank of India and Union Bank of India.
