FWD Group, the Swiss Re backed insurance business of Pacific Century Group (PCG), has announced that it plans to acquire a majority stake in PT Commonwealth Life, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA) Indonesian life insurance venture.
The arrangement will also see FWD enter into a 15-year life insurance distribution partnership with PT Bank Commonwealth, CBA’s Indonesian banking business.
Following the transaction, PT Commonwealth Life will be renamed and rebranded, although all existing policies will be honoured and customers will not be affected by the transfer of ownership, FWD said.
It added that the deal currently remains subject to regulatory approval and PT Commonwealth Life will continue to operate through all its existing channels across its business in the meantime.
“This is another exciting milestone in our journey to become a leading pan-Asian insurer that changes the way people feel about insurance,” said Huynh Thanh Phong, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FWD.
“This acquisition will complement our existing business in Indonesia, providing new opportunities to continue to build our customer-led technology-driven strategy to embrace the enormous long-term growth potential in the Indonesian insurance market.”
FWD first entered the Indonesian market through its joint-venture insurance company PT FWD Life Indonesia in 2015, and currently has other operations in markets across Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Japan.
