Japan¡¯s Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance wants to seek more acquisitions overseas, where it¡¯s prepared to spend to buy attractive assets.
"There is no such thing as ¡®too expensive¡¯ when it comes to hundreds of billions of yen,¡± President Hideki Nagashima said in an interview, referring to the acquisition price. "Depending on the other party, we may have to be a little more daring.¡±
He is particularly keen on the U.S., where its subsidiary StanCorp Financial Group said this year it¡¯s buying Allstate¡¯s benefits unit for about $2 billion. The firm¡¯s ambitions reflect bold moves also being made by many of its local rivals, all hunting for growth outside of the country given Japan¡¯s shrinking population. The country¡¯s insurers have announced about $44 billion of acquisitions and investment deals over the last five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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