Three months after increasing its stake in Singlife, Japan’s Sumitomo Life has now further upped its investment to fully own the Singaporean insurer.
Japanese insurer Sumitomo Life has entered into a binding agreement to purchase all of Texas-based TPG’s shares in Singlife, according to a statement. The American private equity firm has been a Singlife investor since 2020 and owns around 35 percent of the Singaporean insurer.
Sumitomo Life has also made an offer to acquire the stakes of all other remaining shareholders. It will obtain 100 percent ownership if all the other offers are accepted.
The deal values Singlife at S$4.6 billion ($3.5 billion) and the transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals in Japan and Singapore.
Since 2019
Sumitomo Life first started investing in Singlife in 2019 and it increased ownership in September 2023 by purchasing a 25.9 percent stake held by London-based Aviva Group.
«This has been an incredible journey for Singlife. We have grown from a small insurtech startup to become a key player in Singapore’s insurance and financial services industry,» said Singlife chairman Ray Ferguson.
As of 31 December 2022, Singlife had assets totaling S$14.4 billion.
