Zurich Insurance has continued its buying spree in Latin America. With the latest acquisition, the Swiss company will assume a leading role in the life insurance business in Chile.
Chilena Consolidada, a unit of Zurich Insurance, will assume the group and personal life insurance as well as savings products business of Euroamerica, the company said in a statement on Friday (in Spanish).
Zurich will have to pay about $150 million for the business, according to estimates. The acquisition is pending regulatory approval. The business is worth some $270 million in premiums, Zuercher Kantonalbank said in its analysis of the takeover.
Buying in Latin America...
With the new unit, Zurich will become the biggest provider of group life insurance products in Chile with a market share of about 22 percent and the second-largest in personal life insurance, with market share of 18 percent.
The acquisition is the latest in a string of takeovers in Latin America for the Zurich-based company. The insurer in March bought Travel Ace and Universal Assistance, two travel insurance companies. In February, Zurich acquired the Latin America division of QBE Insurance, an Australian rival.
... and Down Under
Zurich also is active down under, having assumed the life insurance business of ANZ, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, making it the leading life insurance provider for private customers, as finews.com reported earlier.
