Japan’s largest insurer Nippon Life Insurance has signed a definitive agreement to buy a 26 per cent stake in Anil Ambani led Reliance Life Insurance Company.
Nippon Life also known as Nissay has been in operations for 121 years. It is the largest private life insurer in Japan and Asia, and the 6th largest life insurer in the World. The Japanese insurer will invest Rs 3062 crore (US $ 680 million) to acquire the strategic stake.
Reliance Life Insurance is a part of Reliance Capital. The company started operations in 2005 and offers a range of products including traditional plans, unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs), retirement plans and child plans. The company has sold over 7 million policies making it the largest insurer in number of individual policies sold amongst the 22 private life insurers in India.
Sam Ghosh, CEO, Reliance Capital said, “As a strategic partner, Nippon Life will bring vast experience, expertise and global best practices – in areas of product development, underwriting, investment management, customer management, distribution and risk management. This partnership will accelerate Reliance Life Insurance’s vision of becoming a world class insurance company in India.”
Nippon Life offers a range of products including medical coverage plans and defined contribution pension plans and posted a profit of Rs 11,700 crore last year.
President of Nippon Life, Kunie Okamoto said, “We are delighted to partner with Reliance Life – an extremely competitive company with unique service offerings, nationwide distribution network, strong operations, highly talented executives and strong brand recognition throughout India.”
Speaking on the current situation in Japan, Anil Ambani said, “At this time our thoughts are with the people of Japan, bravely facing an unprecedented natural catastrophe. We pray for strength to the country, its people and our new partners in the entire Nippon Life family, to overcome the trauma of tragic loss of life and devastation caused by this calamity.”
