Japanese insurer Dai-ichi Life Co is in advanced talks to buy Protective Life Corp of the US in a deal that could be worth more than US$5 billion, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
The deal would be the biggest so far in a string of overseas acquisitions by Japanese insurers, led by Dai-ichi Life, seeking out higher-growth markets to offset weak long-term prospects at home as the country’s population ages rapidly.
Dai-ichi Life, Japan’s second-largest private-sector life insurer, plans to buy 100 percent of Protective Life, the source said. The 107-year-old US company, based in Birmingham, Alabama, has a market capitalization of US$4 billion and posted a net profit of US$393.5 million last year.
The source said Dai-ichi Life, worth close to US$15 billion by market value, is planning to fund half of the acquisition cost from existing reserves if the deal goes through. The remainder would be sought externally, the source said, including a possible share issue, along with loans.
In a statement, Dai-ichi Life said: “It is true that we are considering an acquisition of a US life insurance company. But nothing has been decided.”
A spokesman declined to comment further.
The Nikkei Shimbun business daily, which first reported the talks, said a deal would likely top ¥500 billion (US$4.9 billion).
Dai-ichi Life’s shares fell more than 4 percent in Tokyo in heavy trading, compared with a gain of nearly 2 percent in the broader market, as investors fretted over the potential for a dilutive impact on their holdings from a deal.
“The acquisition itself is positive for the company in the long term, but the market is wondering how the company will finance it,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Asset Management. “Dilution fears from a possible share offering plan hit investor sentiment.”
Eva Robertson, vice president of investor relations at Protective Life, said in an e-mail to Reuters that the company declined to comment, citing company policy on media reports.
For the year ended in March, Dai-ichi Life was the only major life insurer to post growth in insurance premium revenue, boosted by its Australian unit. Sluggish domestic business weighed on its rivals.
Last month Japan’s largest private-sector life insurer, Nippon Life Insurance Co, agreed to buy 20 percent of Indonesia’s Sequis Life for 4.87 trillion rupiah (US$417.13 million).
The biggest acquisition by a Japanese insurer so far is Tokio Marine Holdings Inc’s purchase of property and casualty insurer Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp for about US$4.7 billion in 2008.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last