Insular Life (InLife) and Oona Insurance Group have announced a new agreement wherein InLife will sell its 40% stake in their non-life insurance joint venture, Oona Insular Insurance Corporation (Oona Philippines).
This transaction will result in Oona Philippines becoming a fully owned subsidiary of Oona. Despite this change in ownership, the two companies will maintain their cooperative relationship, continuing to cross-sell insurance products in the Philippines.
The agreement is anticipated to enhance Oona Philippines' position in the general insurance sector in the Philippines. Oona Philippines has been active in the market since last year, introducing a range of innovations and services. Meanwhile, InLife intends to concentrate on its primary life insurance and healthcare businesses.
This focus also aligns with InLife's recent progress, as evidenced by its rise to the fifth position in New Business Annualised Premium Equivalent in the first half of this year. InLife is also planning to expand its operations and distribution channels, aiming to climb higher in the industry rankings.
“As InLife moves forward to achieve accelerated growth and continue in its journey to provide customer service excellence through digital transformation and innovation, we will continue to support Oona’s plan to strengthen its presence in the Philippines,” said Nona D. Aguas, InLife executive chairperson.
“We are deeply grateful to InLife for being a remarkable partner during our lift-off stage over the past year, and we look forward to maintaining our cross-selling partnership with InLife going forward,” said Abhishek Bhatia, founder and CEO of Oona. “We are very optimistic and believe this move will help us push for higher growth as we position ourselves to be a major player in the Philippines’ non-life insurance market.”
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