Dai-ichi to bid for Tower Insurance

Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company has announced plans to acquire the rest of the shares of common stock of TOWER Insurance; of which it currently has a 28.96% stake. Japan's Dai-ichi Life Insurance has confirmed it will pay Y99.6 billion ($1.2bn) to buy the remaining 71.04% of Tower Insurance.

Tower Insurance Australia

The offer for Australia's third largest life insurance company will be via a scheme of arrangement and is priced at $4 a share, a hefty 46.5 % premium to Tower Insurance's last close of $2.73 on Christmas Eve.

Tower Insurance's independent directors unanimously recommend the transaction and have recommended that Tower Insurance's shareholders vote in favour of the transaction in the absence of no superior proposal and subject to an Independent Expert opining that the transaction is in shareholders' best interests.

Dai-ichi Life Insurance's Bid for Tower Insurance

Dai-ichi Life Insurance will proceed with the transaction, subject to obtaining approvals of the Japanese and Australian authorities and Tower Insurance's shareholders.

Dai-ichi Life Insurance believes it can expand its overseas businesses and benefit from consolidating 100% of Tower Insurance's earnings by making Tower a wholly owned subsidiary. Through the transaction, Dai-ichi Life Insurance believes it will be able to support Tower Life Insurance in the next stage of its development, and also strengthen the Dai-ichi's commitment to and efforts in the Australian life insurance market.

Dai-ichi Life Insurance expects to complete the transaction in May 2011.

About Dai-ichi Life Insurance

The Dai-ichi Life Insurance is the third largest life insurance company in Japan, employing 57,803 people and $2,276 billion USD policies in-force (as of March 31, 2010). The company was founded on 15 September 1902, celebrating its 100year anniversary in 2002. Dai-ichi Life Insurance was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Nikkei, raising 1.01 trillion yen.

Source: Dai-ichi December 2010

January 2011