Insular Life (InLife) and Oona Insurance Group have announced a new agreement under which 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 wholly owned subsidiary of Oona. Despite the change in ownership, the two companies will maintain their working relationship and continue to cross-sell insurance products in the Philippines.
The agreement is expected to strengthen Oona Philippines’ position in the general insurance sector in the Philippines. Oona Philippines has been active in the market since last year, introducing a number of innovations and services. Meanwhile, InLife intends to focus on its primary life and healthcare businesses.
This focus is also in line with InLife’s recent progress, as evidenced by its rise to number five in new business annualised premium equivalent in the first half of this year. InLife also plans to expand its operations and distribution channels to move up the industry rankings.
“As InLife moves forward to achieve accelerated growth and continues its journey to deliver superior customer service 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 launch phase last year, and we look forward to continuing our cross-selling partnership with InLife in the future,” said Abhishek Bhatia, founder and CEO of Oona. “We are very optimistic and believe this move will help us drive higher growth as we position ourselves to be a major player in the Philippines general insurance market.”
Elsewhere in the region, Novidea has announced its expansion into the South East Asian market, starting with Hong Kong and Singapore.
