TAL Dai-ichi Life Australia, a unit directly owned by the Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, and its subsidiaries, has agreed to purchase 100% ownership of NFS Group (National Financial Solutions and its subsidiaries), for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition of NFS Group, in which TAL Group already owns nearly 10% stake, will enable Dai-ichi Life Group to enter into the new market where customers seek, compare and buy life insurance online.
The company said that Australian life insurance market has been steadily growing, and it offers high growth potential using online life insurance distribution channel, as the Australian customers are very internet savvy.
Initially started in 2004 as Lifebroker, the NFS Group has established itself as one of the top two online life insurance distribution businesses in Australia.
"This acquisition is expected to lead to, not only an expansion of TAL’s customer base but also to group-wide synergies as the Dai-ichi Life Group will make use of by sharing the internet customer processes and sales know-how within the group," Dai-ichi said in a statement.
The company plans to further enhance its overseas life insurance business going forward, pursuing such new opportunities.
The online comparison business, which offers the product information of several companies on one website, is supplemented with a call center to give customers further information and complete the sales process.
In May, media sources reported that Japan-based Dai-ichi Life Insurance (DLI) agreed to purchase a 40% stake in Indonesian life insurance company, Panin Life.