Chanticleer

Japanese giant shows courage with life insurance slam dunk deal

It takes Japanese-type conviction to double down on a challenged market, and pay a big price to do so.

Dec 11, 2024 – 5.22pm

Email LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Subscribe now

Already a subscriber?

The hunger games are back in Australia’s consolidating life insurance sector – and there are no prizes for guessing it involves a big Japanese hunter and a local bank on the retreat.

In a deal that will create a top-three life insurer by market share, Japanese bigwig Nippon Life is set to merge its Australian business MLC Life with Resolution Life Australasia, and also pay $500 million to buy out National Australia Bank’s minority stake. Nippon Life will own the lot.

Anthony Macdonald is a Chanticleer columnist. He is a former Street Talk co-editor and has 10 years' experience as a business journalist and worked at PwC, auditing and advising financial services companies.