Nippon Life invests in Indonesia???s Sequis Life

Nippon Life Insurance Co announced it has agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in Indonesia's Sequis Life for USD423.9 million, joining its Japanese peers who are expanding in rapidly growing Southeast Asian markets.

PT Asuransi Jiwa Sequis Life, part of Indonesian conglomerate PT Gunung Sewu Kencana, is a middle-sized life insurer with IDO2.27 trillion in gross premiums and IDO9.19 trillion in assets in 2013.

The Indonesian life insurance market has been growing robustly against the backdrop of the fourth-largest population in the world of around 250 million and a growing middle class population, stated a press release by Nippon Life. This high growth is expected to continue in light of the lower life insurance penetration in Indonesia relative to those of developed nations, it added.

Nippon Life, Japan's largest private-sector life insurer, said the deal is subject to approval by Indonesian authorities.