Liability Insurer Buys Delphi Financial For £1.7m
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., Japan’s second-largest liability insurer, agreed to buy Delphi Financial Group Inc. for $2.7 billion in cash in its biggest acquisition in three years as it faces waning demand at home. The Japanese insurer is paying the industry’s third-biggest premium for a cash takeover of more than $1 billion since at least 1995, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The acquisition will boost Tokio Marine’s overseas profit contribution to 46 percent of total earnings from 37 percent, according to the statement. The company said it will fund the purchase through its own cash and debt.
The purchase of the 24-year-old company will strengthen its existing property and casualty insurance in the U.S., and also gives it a foothold in the country’s life insurance market, according to the statement. The U.S. insurance industry is estimated at 89 trillion yen, the world’s largest.