Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance to Invest in Chinese Life Insurer

May 23, 2018

Tokyo- Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. said Wednesday that it will spend 4,325 million yuan to acquire a 37.5 pct stake in BoCommLife Insurance Co., a unit of China's Bank of Communications Co.

The Japanese insurer, a unit of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. <8725>, will purchase the BoCommLife shares from a life insurance subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The deal is subject to approval from Chinese regulators.

Shanghai-based BoCommLife, established in 2000, mainly sells insurance products through banks. It is the 28th-largest life insurer in China with 13.13 billion yuan in premium revenue last year, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance said.

The deal will give Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance a foothold in China's life insurance market, the world's third largest after the United States and Japan. Jiji Press