Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest property and casualty insurer, is eyeing more than $10 billion in acquisitions to supercharge its global growth, according to Brad Irick, co-head of the company’s international operations.
The company, which currently earns about 80% of its overseas profits in the U.S., plans to rebalance that to around 70% across all of North America in the coming years, Irick said in an interview. He added that part of the funding will come from unwinding its cross-shareholdings with other Japanese firms—assets worth roughly $25 billion at market value.
“It’s a generational opportunity to take that capital that’s being freed up and put it into long-term, sustainable enterprise value-creating businesses for the next many years,” Irick said.
Since taking the helm in June, Tokio Marine CEO Masahiro Koike has made global expansion a top priority, aiming to broaden the company’s reach far beyond its home market in Japan.
The insurer is exploring growth opportunities in Latin America and Southeast Asia, with plans to lift their contributions to Tokio Marine’s international profits to about 10% and 15%, respectively—up from roughly 6% each today. The push would center on acquiring smaller personal insurance providers and promoting specialty insurance products that are still relatively untapped in those markets.
Tokio Marine is also looking to strengthen its specialty insurance business in Australia, eyeing both bolt-on acquisitions and potentially larger deals. The market is dominated by local heavyweights such as Insurance Australia Group Ltd., QBE Insurance Group Ltd., and Suncorp Group Ltd.
In Africa, Tokio Marine is more interested in expanding its 22.5% stake in Hollard Group than pursuing new acquisitions, Irick said.
The insurer still has big ambitions in the U.S., where it plans to pursue smaller acquisitions—partly because larger deals could overlap with its existing operations. Even so, with only about 2% of the commercial insurance market, Tokio Marine still has plenty of room to grow, and Irick said he wouldn’t rule out a major acquisition down the road.
